Vestige
by Ignika Kaita
Summary: When word of a functioning Space Bridge reaches the Arclight, Prowl and his Autobot crew set out to reclaim it from the Decepticon warship Leviathan. But in the battle over the relic, it malfunctions and pulls both sides onto an unfamiliar planet. With the Space Bridge and their ships damaged, all must adapt to the world of Remnant until they can find a way back home.
1. Prologue, Part 1

**Prologue, Part 1: Bridge Between Worlds**

Space… To some, it is a lifeless void. To others, a sea of infinite possibilities. Many have gazed upon it, pondered on its mysteries. Many have made the bold move to sail across the stars. Some in search of new homes, others in search of secret knowledge and treasure. One group happens to be in search of the latter, while the other… well. They're more interested in the first party themselves.

Striding down the hallways was an Autobot in red-and-white paint. He was between the size of a Minicon and a regular-sized Cybertronian (though it was difficult to tell if he was a member of either camp). Blue opics gleamed from behind his mouthguard, while his cone-shaped head possessed a small antenna. Small white pylons rested on his shoulders while fin-like structures rose past them.

Walking beside him was an orange-and-white Bulk of average size. Two blades rose above his blue shoulders, likely belonging to some type of rotor. His face was covered by an orange mouthguard and a blue visor. The two Mechs were the Aerialbots Powerglide and Alpha Bravo respectively. And the ship that they were on was called the Arclight.

Alpha Barvo was the first to speak. "So you're an Aerialbot too," He said. "How did find yourself here?"

"Heard this crew was in need of an extra flyer," The smaller bot replied. "A friend of mine knew the captain and recommended me to him. A deca-cycle later and- poof. Here I am. So, what's your story, if you don't mind me asking?"

The taller bot laughed. "The Protectobots here were looking for some new oil. I signed up just as word reached my station."

Powerglide's faceplate glanced down at the floor with an "oh" being muttered. The younger flyer's optics projected a concerned look in them.

"They didn't brief you in, did they?" Said the red one.

The orange one shook his head. "Just arrived here a couple of solar cycles ago. Haven't bumped into the commander yet. Or the rest of his team, now that I think about. Where are they?"

"Mourning," replied the smaller Mech. "They lost their flyboy Graze an orbital cycle ago."

"Oh," Said AB gloomingly.

"Excuse me, gentlemechs," Said a new voice. The two flyers turned to see a white-and-red Bulk with a shoulder-mounted missile launcher.

"Red Alert," Greeted Powerglide.

The larger bot smiled and glanced at Alpha Bravo. It insintaly did a 180 spin. "This is the new recruit?"

"I am," confirmed the rookie. "Is something wrong?"

Before he could protest, the older bot pulled out a small device from a holster on his hip and fired it at Alpha. Frozen in place, he was unable to protest as the security officer retracted his hands and summoned several more tools. He ran laps around the bot as he scanned him with each one, blinding him with every hit. When his vision returned, he found himself on his servos and knees. He was free to rise as Red Alert compiled all of his work into a data-con.

"Verification complete," He said. "X-rays confirm that he is _not_ a Shifter."

The Aerialbot shook his head to remove any further glitches from his Heads-Up-Display. "Was that really necessary?" He growled.

"Oh absolutely," replied the wheeled bot. "We cannot ignore the possibility of Decepticon saboteurs walking amongst us."

Powerglide rolled his optics. "Was there a reason you came to me besides harassing our recruits?"

"Why yes," He replied. "The captain wants to see you in his office."

Powerglide raised an optic rim. "Me and the kid?"

"No," The head of security replied in a deadpan manner. "Just you. This does not involve the 'kid'."

The smallest one sighed. "You know where the recreational hall is?"

The younger Autobot projected a holographic map from his arm. "Don't work. I ain't walking in the dark. Wait for you there?"

Powerglide nodded. "Sure. See ya la-"

"Not without an escort, young mech!" Retorted Red Alert. He glanced around the hall frantically until his gaze fell upon a black-and-red bot with a blue visor.

"You there!" He shouted as he walked towards him.

The Autobot winced as the words stabbed their way into his audio receptors. "Primus, pal! What is it no-"

Red Alert grabbed him by the arm and pushed him towards Alpha Bravo. He nearly crashed into the poor lad.

"Accompany this 'recruit' to the recreational hall. Do not let him out of your sight," He commanded.

He grabbed Powerglide by the same limb and dragged him along despite his protests. Alpha Bravo just stared at the two bots as they departed.

"Please tell me he's the only crazy one on this ship," He said.

The ebony bot chuckled. "Don't worry," He replied. "It's just him." He shook his servo with the Aerialbot's. "Name's Trailbreaker."

"Alpha Bravo," Said the cadet. "There an Energon bar near the hall? Or a gym? Could go for some rounds of Cube."

Trailbreaker grinned. "And a lot more, kiddo," He said. "Come on, there's some bots I wanna introduce you to."

While the copter-bot and his new friend were chatting away, Red Alert led Powerglide to the captain's quarters. The flyer broke his arm free from the officer's iron grip.

"Now will you tell what's going on?" Said Powerglide.

Red Alert peered into an opening beside the door. A bright blue light scanned his optics, beeping afterwards. The door slide open for them.

"Perhaps it would be better if the captain showed you," Said Red Alert.

Both bots entered the room. It was a simple design, white in color and possessing minimal furniture. All they could see was a recharge slab, a round table, some chairs, and a terminal. Sitting at the table was a bot in black-and-white paint. A red crest-resembling horns- was sculpted onto his cranium. A golden visor studied the datapad before him.

Prowl glanced up from his logs as the two stepped in. He rose to his feet and placed his hands behind his back.

"Powerglide," The captain greeted formally.

The Aerialbot saluted him. "Captain."

Prowl pressed a button on the table. The ceiling above opened to reveal a holographic projector. The lights went out, swiftly replaced by a faint cyan glow. Red Alert shivered at the change in lighting.

"We received a transmission from Cosmos a few mega cycles ago," Said Prowl.

Powerglide raised an optic rim. "From Ultra Magnus?" He asked. "Has he finally found Prime?"

His commander shook his head. "No," He replied. "It's from one of our agents."

A holographic keyboard appeared before him and he typed something into it. A silhouette- blurred in blue and yellow- was facing the trio. A distorted voice emerged from it.

" _This is C-111,"_ the figure began. _"And I have grave news. The Decepticons have discovered an ancient relic of our people's past and are attempting to restore it. If functional, it can put the war effort in their favor. "_

A series of clanks could be heard in the background.

" _Scrap,"_ He cursed, seemingly typing away on his arm. _"Sending package now. Till all are-"_

The recording ended abruptly. Prowl typed in more sequences and brought up another image. This one left the crimson bot speechless. Before them was the schematics to a donut-shaped object. More images of it popped up, revealing it to possess a rock-like exterior and glowing veins. Photos of a nearby space station popped up around the blueprints as well. He recognized the device from before the war.

"A Space Bridge?" Breathed Powerglide.

Prowl nodded grimmly. "It appears that some were spared from the collapse of the original network," He said. "I thought they were all destroyed near the end of the Golden Age, but obviously that's not the case."

Red Alert stepped. "If there are any more intact and the Decpeticons manage to reconnect them, they could swarm the entire galaxy."

Powerglide slammed a fist into his palm. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some aft!"

"Absolutely not!" Blurted out the security officer.

Prowl nodded in agreement as he typed into the keypad. The schematics were replaced with an image of a starship and manifest of its crew.

 _The Leviathan_ _: Switchblade, Thrust, Barricade, Offroad, Swindle, Flamewar, Bludgeon, Incinerator, Demolisher, Turmoil_

The list ran on and on, totalling to about several hundred- if not a thousand- names. Powerglide's arms became limp at the sight of the list. "You're kidding me…"

Red Alert shook his head. "You think I'm the paranoid one? Take a gander at this!"

The image and list flickered to reveal several windows of video footage. Hordes of Vehicons patrolling a space station, Seekers flying around the vessel. Destroyers were dotted across the surrounding area, all in tank-mode. Powerglide gulped at the sight.

"Please tell me you have a plan," he said.

Prowl smirked. "That's why you're here," He said. "Now listen carefully…"

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile at Research Station N0V5-212**_

A number of Vehicons- purple cannon fodder with crimson visors- were patrolling the _space_ station's communications chamber. One of them was busy trying to rewire a terminal after it burned out. Beside him was a mint-colored Seeker, monitoring the computer the trooper was fixing. Another 'of his kind stepped into the room, bearing a cone (or squid, depending on who you ask) shaped head. His paintjob was a dark gray and muted lime green.

"Sky commander!" Saluted the first Seeker.

The officer- Thrust- chuckled. "At ease, Bitstream," He said. "General Switchblade wants a status report."

"Relays are as shoddy as ever," Said Bitstream, tapping the terminal with his knuckle. "But the upgrades are coming along smoothly."

"And the Bridge?"

"Fully operational. However…"

Thrust raised an optic rim. "What is it?"

Bitstream walked to another computer and typed away at it's panel. A series of code ran across the screen before a star map appear on it.

"This Space Bridge appears to be isolated from the original network. No mentions of any of Cybertron or its old colonies anywhere. The only locations it does show is ours…"

He pointed at a blank part of the map. "And that."

Thrust brought his face closer to the screen, than glanced out one of windows. "The local dark nebula?" He said in confusion.

Bitstream nodded. "Interesting," muttered his commander. "Can we connect it to other Space Bridges?"

The seeker shrugged. "I can do the programming, but I don't think that alone's enough. Might need to tinker with its guts too."

Thrust sighed. His superiors were not going to like this. "I'll see if Switchblade can call in some additional servant-class, but don't expect any miracles."

Thrust departed the chamber and flew out of the center in vehicle mode. Seconds after his exit, however, something rolled into the corner of the room. Bitstream notices this and goes to investigate it. Before he got close, it released a static-charged cloud of gas. All of the 'Cons present had their cirects scrambled and fell into stasis lock.

Through the mists emerged a figure in dark blue armor. Crawling under one of the terminals, he opened a panel up and rewired the rader. It blinked up for a minute, playing a feedback loop he programmed into it. Closing it back up, he grabbed his gadget and snuck back out the door. Don't want to leave any evidence behind.

Counterpunch let out a sigh of relief. The afflicted 'Cons won't be remembering this any time soon. Now all he had to do was wait for the infiltration team. He spent the next few mega cycles scouting the research site, taking note of every soldier and defense mechanism in place. To pass the time, he also decide to jumpscare any servant-class Vehicon he encountered. He (or at least the Counterpunch portion of his psyche) always did enjoy the sounds they made when startled.

A flicker caught the corner of his optics. His HUD was detecting a lone isotome in one of the local asteroids' craters. Sticking to the darkness of space, Counterpunch leapt onto one and slipped in. This was his private bunker for his Autobot identity. Totally soundproof.

Something clanked and rolled in the corner. He summoned his blaster and slowly walked towards the source of the disturbance. To his relief, it was just his tower of empty energon canisters collapsing.

Something invisible collided into his chestplate. The spy fell onto his aft and found himself staring at the barrel of another blaster. Before him was a sleek blue-and-white bot with blades attach to his forearms. He instantly recognized him as Mirage. The cloaker lowered his weapon.

"You could've left a notepad or something," Joked Counterpunch as he converted to his Autobot persona.

Mirage grinned sheepishly. "Couldn't find a damn pen." He retorted playfully.

"You the only one here?" Asked the spy.

Seven more shapes blurred into existence, evidently using cloak fields as well. Two of them were between the size of a Minicon and Bulk, possessing kibble for a plane and hovercycle. Another appeared to turn into a blue buggy-like vehicle. He spotted two Minicons- one humanoid and one birdlike- standing beside a Bulk in tan, red, and white. A femme in cyan paint also stood with them. These were Powerglide, Groove, Beachcomber, Rewind, Sunder, Chromedome, and Moonracer respectively.

"Moonracer, stay here and use your scopes. EMP rounds only," Commanded Mirage. "Beachcomber, watch her back. Sunder and Powerglide, see if you can cut the engines on the Leviathan. Punch, just do what you do best. Rewind, Groove, you're with me. We'll handle the Destroyers."

"What about me?" Chromedome inquired with his arms crossed. "Just sit here and let my engine freeze?"

Their spy -Punch- gave him a data-con. "This'll enable you to access the shis's cameras. Just insert the codes into my terminal over there and watch everyone else's backs."

Mirage grinned as the yellow-visored bot took at sit at Punch's computer. "Remember; comlinks only. We've only got one shot at this. If things to the Pits now, there won't be a tomorrow for anyone present."

Mirage held his arm up in the air for few seconds before bringing it down. "Roll Out!" He yelled.

* * *

Thrust had entered the main bridge of the _Leviathan_ by this point. Up head of him was his commanding officer Switchblade. His superior was a blue-and-gold bot with ruby-red optics, with wings resembling that of a predatory bird behind his back. Beside him was another bot, clad in tan armor with purple highlights and violet visor. They were sitting around a large table, carved in the shape of the Decepticon insignia.

"'Sup squidhead," Waved the tan-bot.

Thrust let out an annoyed growl. "Hello Swindle," said Thrust.

The captain turned to Thrust. "We were just talking about you. I trust Bitstream's research is going smoothly." He said.

"It certainly has bore some fruit," Thrust said. "But it also came across some snags."

Switchblade's optics narrowed. "Give me the bad news," He said.

"The space bridge doesn't appear to have any connection to the original network. We would have to manually program it to connect with others. We did find another one, however."

The other flyer smiled. "Oh?" He said. "And where might it be?"

Thrust simply pointed out the main window to the bridge. Both of the other bots seem perplexed.

"The dark nebula?" Switchblade asked.

Thrusted nodded. There was a pause amongst the three 'Cons. Swindle broke the silence after a minute.

"If I were a betting bot," He began. "I'd wager that other bridge leads to something valuable. Weapons, Energon, treasure. A dark nebula would make the perfect hiding for staching all your loot."

"Or perhaps serve as a cloak for someone," Thrust added.

"Like Prime?" Switchblade said.

Thrust grinned under his mouthguard. "My thoughts exactly."

Switchblade rose from his seat and made his way to the ship's main computer.

"If there's chance that Prime is hiding in that cloud, Megatron needs to know," He said as he typed on a holographic keypad.

Yet as those words left his mouth, static came into view. He typed the sequence again and received the same result. A different command was inputted and still nothing. Switchblade gave up and tapped into his comlink.

"Bitstream, what's your status?"

Static…

"Bitstream?"

An uneasy silence hung in the air. Swindle exchanged a nervous glance with Thrust. Before anyone could speak, something appeared in their front window. It was another vessel, clad in copper and salmon-color plating. It lacked the dark paint and spikes their own ships were known for. Switchblade growled as he realized who was manning the other ship.

Slamming a fist into a red button, the alarm sounded off. Thrust converted his arms into flamethrowers while Swindle's hand retracted to make way for a X18 Scrapmaker. Switchblade ejected a rifle from his built-in backpack and caught it with his spare hand. His other one grabbed a microphone and brought it to his vocalizer.

"All warriors, man your battlestations! Servant-class must grab arms and join the battle. This not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!"

* * *

The Destroyers had turned their attention to the Arclight, unloading their cannons onto the enemy ship. The ship's shields held and it returned fire. While the tanks shrugged the enemy fire off, their audio receptors were clouded with gunfire and explosions. A certain Minicon explioted this to slip on them and attach a detpak under each one. By the time they noticed something amist, they became flaming piles of scrap.

Rewind let out a short laugh as the behemoths fell. His joy turned to horror when the giants began shifting to robot mode. He let out a nervous chuckle and wave as one of them aimed his minigun at him. Before he could fire, something pierced his cranium. The Destroyer fell to his knees and nearly crushed the Minicon under him. He turned his head towards the asteroid housing Punch's bunker.

"You can thank me later," chimed Moonracer's voice in his coms.

The remaining Destroyers ejected floating probes from their backs, soaking in the Overshields they generated. Rewind scrambled to cover as one opened fire on him. He poked his head out and firsted his blaster at one of the drones. It exploded into shrapnel and he ducked back under the rubble. He heard shots go off past his barrier, but they didn't sound like a Scrapmaker.

He was overjoyed by the sight of Mirage dancing around a Destroyer, cloaking and taunting the giant at every turn. With his overshields down, Rewind used the opportunity to climb onto his back and plant another bomb on him. A shot from him detonated, blowing the Destroyer's back wide open and exposing his inner mechanisms. Both bots blasted them to oblivion, extinshing his Spark.

Dropships from the invading spacecraft were deployed around the Space Bridge. Among the Autobots swarming the site were a sargent and one of his cadets. A hardened ancient bot in worn green paint took a quick off of a Cy-gar before dropping from his. A younger bot- crimson with fiery flames painted on his chassis- followed suit. The elder -Kup- converted his right arm into a Scatter Blaster. He charged forth towards a squad of Vehicons and opened fire, gunning down two of them.

An explosive-laced arrow zoomed past him and into another 'Con, blowing his head to pieces. Another landed at the feet of two more, knocking them off balance and giving Kup an opening to finish them off. The younger bot -Rodimus- sped past him and ducked under blaster fire. He headbutted one of the mooks before impaling him with one of his arrows, letting detonate in his chest. The sparkless chassis fell to the ground.

Both bots converted to vehicle mode and rammed past the rest of them, running over any other tropper unfortunate enough to be on their sights. At least, until a green 'Con in tank mode sent them flying with his cannons. The impact forced the duo out of their alt-modes and they scrambled for cover as mortar fire rained down on them. The con laughed as he demolished their hiding spots one by one.

"Come on out and fight, Autobums!" Taunted Brawl.

His response was Rodimus firing an arrow in the middle of the field. Smoke coated the whole ground, blinding the Combaticon for a time. He resolved to use his thermal scanners when his radar picked up something. That object turned out to be a small black-and-white hovorcraft. The bot flew over his head and converted to Protoform-mode. The blue-visored Autobot kicked off his missile launcher and pulled his cannons upwards.

"Starting a party with firecrackers?" Groove laughed. "Shame on you."

With a snarl the larger bot converted to robot-form and plucked the pacifist from his back. He was about to blow his head off when a rocket-arrow collided with his shoulder. Free from his grip, the small one converted back to vehicle mode and sped off. Kup charged and rammed into him with his own set of wheels. The tank-bot was sent spiral off the station and into the void towards the Leviathan.

"We even?" Rodimus chirped. Kup elbowed him while the Protectobot chuckled.

"Main console's up ahead." Groove said. "Race y'all there."

Before the sargent could protect, his pupil convert into alt-mode and speed after him. Groaning, he reluctantly joined in on the chase. Groove made use of his Cyber-Ninja skills to evade Vehicons rather than resort to force (or at least the lethal variant). His competitors had no such qualms and blasted them at sight. He almost ran headfirst into a squad of Seekers when he beat them to the finish line. Soon as he resumed his humanoid form, he found himself surrounded. And hovering above them was Thrust.

The air marchiel emitted a "tsk"ing sound from his vocal processor. "Did you really that I would leave this section unguarded?" Thrust gloated.

Groove held his servos up. "For a minute, I actually did," He admitted as he got onto his knees.

Then he smiled. Thrust was about to ask about that look when rammed straight into his faceplate. Kup converted into robot-mode and pounded away at the tactician. Rodimus followed suit and delivered a kick to a Vehicon's abdomen. Groove made a mad dash for the main computer, but Thrust repelled the elder-bot and bolted after the smaller one.

Groove narrowly dodged a grab-attack from the air marshal and fired away with his blasters. The stun rounds had little effect on him and he responded by activating his flamethrowers. The Auobot danced around the flames and resorted to martial arts. His prefered choice- Diffusion- focused on non-lethal attacks and misdirection. In some cases, he feigned one type of punch and went for another. In others he slide under the larger 'Con and unleashed a volley of kicks.

With each hit Thrust's patience dimmed and flickered. At last his breaking point was reached and his wings began spinning rapidly. Groove was caught in the makeshift tornado and flung into the main terminal screen. Thrust used the boosters in his feet to quickly close the gap and slammed his fist into the Protectobot. He wrapped his fingers around the poor bot's head and repeatedly slammed him against the screen of the console until it broke. The Seeker converted his free hand into a flamethrower and brought it to Groove's battered face.

"Do you have any last words before I send you to the Allspark?" Inquired Thrust.

A golden optic gleamed through his broken visor as he grinned. "Ya; you should've stuck with your teammates."

Thrust raised an optic rim before before spinning around. Rodimus-having finished off the last of his Vehicons- fired a rocket-arrow at him. He instinctively activated his weapon to detonate the explosive before it hit him. The resulting blast was stronger than he anticipated and he was flung onto the computer. The arm possessing the flamethrower found its way into the exposed circuitry behind the screen and ignited it. An alarm blurred and coated the room in a blood-red light as the flames consumed the console.

" _ **WARNING: MAIN CONTROLS UNDER CRITICAL CONDITION,"**_ Said an electronic voice. _**"SPACE BRIDGE MALFUNCTIONING. PROBABILITY OF SELF-DESTRUCTION; EIGHTY-SEVEN POINT NINETE-"**_

At that moment, the entire control center erupted into flames. An explosion sent all of its occupants spiraling into the void. Thrust had the advantage of being a Seeker and fly off to his ship without a problem. His enemies on the other hand were flying at dangerous speeds towards some asteroids. Before anyone would met a grizzly destruction, however, something magnetically grabbed them. Groove found himself attach to the underside of an Aerialbot. The thing that puzzled him was the blades folded down neatly at the top.

He grinned as he put two and two together. _"Ah, the newbie finally joined the party,"_ Spoke the Protectobot via comlink.

" _Heard that you and the others were in need of some privacy,"_ Replied Alpha Bavo. _"Is now a bad time?"_

Groove let out a laugh. He twisted his head around to see Powerglide carrying Kup and a sky-blue bot- the cyclopan Whirl, no doubt- spiriting Rodimus away. Something peculiar caught everyone's optic, though. The Space Bridge's veins turned from a calm light blue to an unsettling red. A portal of the same color began swirling within it.

" _Uh… are they supposed to look like that?"_ Chimed Rodimus.

His answer came in the form of a blistering call from Prowl. _"Fall back!"_ He shouted. _"Everybot return to the_ Arclight _\- NOW!"_

The three flyers compiled and returned with their friends to the ship. The dropships rounded up as many bots as possible and followed suit. Rodimus noticed the Vehicons and other 'Cons making their way to the Leviathan as well. Once they had entered the docking bay, the three flybots dropped their passengers and transformed to Protoform mode. The six of them ran towards the main bridge at breakneck speeds and joined the audience. Everyone was staring at the portal while Prowl and other bots attempted to bring the engines online.

A crimson wave of energy pulsed from the gateway collided with everything in its path. The remains of the research station, the two spaceships, and even the nearby asteroids were being drawn towards. The engines kicked in at that moment, but it was not enough to break free of the gravitational force. The Leviathan seemed to be in the same predicament.

"Reroute all power to rear thrusters!" Commanded Prowl.

"We are," Said one Autotropper. "But it ain't doing jack-slag!"

Though his visor hid his optics, his mouth and twitching fingers were more than enough evidence to indicate his emotions right now. He jaws hung with terror as the Space Bridge began fizzling with the strange energy.

"Everybody take cover!" He said as the ships were pulled in.

The crimson lightning jolted from the Space Bridge to the Leviathan. It quickly bounced off the vessel and encased the Arclight as well. The lights and systems shorted out and plunged the Autobots into darkness. The only thing providing illumination were the stars and their swirling doom.

Once all had been consumed by the portal, a chain of explosions erupted all around the mechanical gate. What was once a monument to Cybertronian society was reduced to a burnt out husk. Far from its grasp spied a green, red, and yellow saucer. The orbital spy- Cosmos- could barely process what just happened. He opened a channel in the hopes of denying his fears.

" _Cosmos to Prowl,"_ He said. _"Do you read me?"_

 _ **Bzzztt….**_

" _Prowl, report."_

 _ **Bzzzttttzzzzztttt…..**_

" _Prowl… Kup… Powerglide… Whirl?"_

The next line was broadcasted across all channels. It came in the shadow of a whimper when reality sunk in.

" _Anybody…?"_

* * *

 **Authors Notes**

 **Well, that's certainly one way to start the day (ooh rhyme!). For those of you wondering, this fanfic is set in the Aligned Continuity (or at least based heavily off of it). That includes stuff like the** _ **War For/Fall of Cybertron**_ **games by High Moon Studios and the** _ **Transformers Prime**_ **cartoon. Certain characters have been remodeled into being expies of other counterparts, or are imported from other continuities. The appearances for some may also differ from this continuity's designs for them.**

 **Thrust here is based off of his** _ **Armada**_ **incarnation.**

 **Whirl (or at least his current Cybertronian form) is based more off of his IDW counterpart rather than his Fall of Cybertron toy. Main reason is 'cus Ruination ain't gonna show up in this fanfic. There ain't enough bots left to form him by this point in time.**

 **While Kup uses his WFC face (featured in the Nintendo DS versions of the game), his future-self will basically basically use the design of his** _ **Generations**_ **toy rather than the** _ **Prime**_ **one (which was meant more for Ironhide than for him anyway).**

 **Rewind (and by extension Eject)... hmm. I'm debating on whether to use his Tablet/tank modes from Titans Return, or just have him use the latter mode from** _ **Timelines**_ **. All I can say that he isn't gonna use his "data-disk" mode from the** _ **Fall of Cybertron**_ **toyline. And that's just for his Cybertronian chassis.**

 **Chromedome I personally imagine as using his** _ **Timeline**_ **figure's body (by the time he reaches Remnant anyway), since it was a retool of TF:P Wheeljack's. But I can also imagine his current Cybertron body as being akin to his RID comics appearance.**

 **Bitstream would basically be a recolor of the standard WFC Seekers, nothing special.**

 **Alpha Barvo's cybertronian form is basically a redeco of FOC Vortex with his** _ **Combiner Wars**_ **colorscheme.**

 **(Counter)punch is up in the air. He does have his G1 colorshceme, but that's about it. I'll leave the rest to your own imaginations.**

 **There were a number of scrapped concepts for this prologue. First was that Megatron (via hologram) would have been present with Switchblade's meeting. I couldn't come up with any convincing dialogue with him, though, and ultimately removed him from the scene.**

 **There also were musings on having Grimm tentacles emerging from the Space Bridge and dragging everything into the portal. This was shot down when I remembered that Grimm were supposed to destroy the handiwork of living beings (And also the question as to where the hell they came from). The only shred of this idea surviving was the crimson energy from the malfunctioning bridge.**

 **And now for a sneak peek of the next chapter.**

* * *

Next time on Transformers: Vestiges!

 _The Arclight and Leviathan spiral out of the other Space Bridge, lights flickering within their windows. We hear Rodimus's voice._

Rodimus: Wha… where are we?

 _The next scene shifts to the Autobots rising back onto their feet, than switching over to them gazing at the new world's broken moon. Kups voice is head next as it transitions into another scene_

Kup: Nevermind the change in scenery. Worry about _them_.

 _Vehicons flood into the_ Arclight's _halls and open fire on everyone. The next scene shows Thrust making a triumphant pose before a large monitor. His voice pops up in this scene and the next one._

Thrust: The Autobot ship is crippled! Now is the time to finish them off!

 _Vehicon flyers and Seekers bombard the_ Arclight _as it flies through the moon's debris field. We then see Chromedome carrying an injured Rewind down a damaged hall, ducking under blaster-fire. Prowl is driving down another hall at max speed, trying to outrun an explosion. His voice plays over the final cut._

Prowl: ...initiate Protocol R.I.D…

 _That very scene is wreckage and escape pods descending towards the planet._


	2. Prologue, Part 2

**Proulege, Part 2: The Broken Moon**

Rodimus rebooted his systems with a groan. His vision was blurry, registering nothing but darkness. His Optics readjusted themselves to find that the Arclight was in complete darkness. Emergency power soon kicked in and small lights flickered to life around him. One by one, the bots on deck came to and rose to their feet. The cadet clenched his forehead as he leaned on a terminal.

"Ugh," He groaned. "And I thought PoKEs had a mean punch."

A short aching laugh caught his audio receptors. "Now that, I can agree with you on," He said as he straightened himself up.

Rodimus took a glance out the main window of the ship. While the presence of stars and space dust assured him they were all alive, he didn't see any constellation or planet he recognized.

"Where are we?" He asked to no one in particular.

Another bot beside him- Trailbreaker- opened up the navi-computer. "If I were to guess," He said. "We're inside the dark nebula. Not picking up anything from the Space Bridge, though. Must've shorted itself out after we were pulled in."

"So in other words," Whirl concluded. "We're trapped here."

Prowl growled as he rose from his seat. "We are _not_ trapped anywhere," He said defiantly. "We should still be able to quantum jump out of here."

Prowl tapped into his comlink as he typed something into his computer monitor, bringing several meters and gauges up on the screen.

"Prowl to Huffer, do you read me?" He asked.

Static came first, then a grumpy old voice. _"Yeah, I hear ya,"_ It said. _"What the scrud was that? An EMP?"_

"Space Bridge malfunction," Prowl corrected. "What's the status on the generators?"

" _Obviously auxiliary power's all fine and dandy. Main generator's got a mild case of static, but it should still be operational. The Quantum Generators…."_ A nervous chuckle came up. _"...are another story. Looks like fried Sharkticon right now."_

"Estimation as to when repairs will be complete?" Prowl asked.

" _Shouldn't take long for us to siphon out the static discharge,"_ Replied Huffer. _"But the Quantums are my main concern. It could take a full orbital cycle to replace all the damaged components. And I'm not even sure if we have all the resources for those."_

Prowl sighed, turning his gaze towards the main window. He could see make out three celestial bodies up ahead. Two of them appeared to be planetoids, one their local sun.

"Swerve, run a geological scan on those two bodies," Prowl ordered.

A hulking red-and-white bot with blue-tinted windows and visor complied. "One of them appears to be a moon of some sort, but it looks damaged. Seeing a lotta saltilitte bodies in its region. Fragments maybe. The planet it's orbiting appears to have a variety of ecosystems. Picking up some type of energy from it, but I can't make headlights or tailpipes from here."

"Could this energy be converted into Energon?" Prowl inquired.

Swerve shrugged. "We'd have to run some experiments to answer that question. But I am picking up some metals too. Might be able to patch the ship and equipment up if the need arises."

He shifted focus on the moon. "Something about that thing bothers me, though," He said. "The way those rocks are shaped indicates that they were broken off. Picking up a variant of that weird energy. Different wavelengths, and giving off some type of radiation too. This can't be the work of nature."

Kup walked towards the younger bot. "Think someone used it as target practice for some doomsday weapon?" He asked.

Swerve shrugged again. "Possible, but too many variables to pin something down."

Kup was about to say something when faint glint caught his optic. "Wait," He pointed out. "What's that over there?"

Trailbreaker zoomed in the object in question with the main monitor. The next image sent a chill down everyone's spinal cords. There, floating like a dead fish in the water, was the _Leviathan_. Much their own ship, the majority of it was cast into darkness. Only faint signs of auxiliary power could be seen in the bridge.

"Trailbreaker, run a quick scan on the _Leviathan_ ," Prowl commanded.

The Autobot nodded, bringing up a holographic display of a number of charts.

"Looks like they got a power outage too," He confirmed. "But there's no telling when their system will reboot either."

Whirl clapped his pincers in a menacing manner. "Then what are we standing around for?" He laughed. "Let's march over there and blow them all to he-"

"Problem," Trailcutter interrupted, pointing at a flickering image. "Our turrets are offline."

"Say what!?"

Prowl marched over to Trailbreaker's post and looked at his readings. "He's right," he confirmed. "That energy wave burnt out all exterior blasters. Took a large portion of our shields with it too."

"Don't we have some more cannons on reserve or something?" Rodimus asked.

"You'd have to manually activate and mount those," The black-and-red Autobot replied. "They're not connected to the ship's operating system."

Prowl crossed his arms. "And who knows many more Vehicons they have?" He noted.

He stared at the view before him, silently weighing his options. They had the element of surprise earlier and caught the 'Cons off guard after their radar was disabled. They were on the offensive while the 'Cons had to defend the Space Bridge. But now that they were out in open space, there won't anything to hold them back. They had the numbers and potentially the firepower. The _Arclight_ didn't have as many Autotroppers compared to the Vehicon armies. His gaze turned towards the moon.

"Get us over to that moon," Prowl commaded. "We can use it as a cloak incase their systems are online. If there's any radiation left, we might be able to mask the ship's heat signature with it. Keep everything under backup power unless absolutely necessary."

Swerve and the other bots at the terminals saluted. "You got bot it, boss-bot," Said Swerve.

The _Arclight_ 's engines flared to life and pushed the vessel onwards. All bots on the bridge began returning to their assigned posts. As they vessel drew closer and closer to the satellite, something popped up on Trailbreaker's monitor.

"Captain," He said. "I'm picking up a heat spike."

"Where?" Prowl asked.

The ship rumbled before the soldier could say anything. An alarm sounded off.

"Wha- the scrap was that!?" Rodimus shouted.

The energy reading on the ebony bot's screen began rising.

"It's the _Leviathan_!" He shouted. "They were playing robo-possum!"

Suddenly the graphs and meters were replaced with the radar. One massive dot was the edge, while countless small ones spawned before it.

"We've got multiple bogies commander!" He alerted.

Prowl summoned camera footage from his seat's projector. It revealed the enemy ship to be fully functional and send out a swarm of shapes from its hull. Zooming in revealed a number of torpedoes at the front, with Seekers and dropships behind them. A few shapes stood out from the crowd, but he couldn't get a clear view of them.

"No point in tiptoeing now," He said. "Reboot main generators and get all that power into shields and engines. Save some for our reserve fire."

Prowl activated the intercoms and brought a microphone to his lips. "All hands on deck! We have multiple Seekers and missiles heading towards us! Get into defensive positions! Make your way to the reserve cannons and get them online, NOW!"

"Captain," Swerve spoke up. "If I may?"

"Make it quick," Said Prowl.

"Why not make a detour through the moon's debris field?" The other bot suggested. "We can use it as cover from the missiles."

Prowl nodded. "Do it," He commanded.

The troops followed through and shifted course for the belt. The ship's cannons slid into view and opened fire on the torpedoes. Some managed to take a number of them down, others either missed or were hit themselves. The dropships advanced through the smoke, moving over towards the gaps created from the explosions. They were about to unload Vehicons and other troops into the vessel when the saw the incoming obstacle.

Some of them pulled back and rejoined the armada. Others took a gamble and flew onwards. The _Arclight_ and its pursuers dove into the miniature asteroid field, though its size made it difficult to completely avoid them. The ship ran into some of them, taking moderate portions of the shields. The cannons had to juggle between the stray rocks and enemy fire. This gave the dropships the opportunity to slip by and make their ploy. Most of them crashed into debris playing their gambit. The lucky ones managed to unload their troops before joining the rest in flames.

The leader of one such pack was a Decepticon with yellow, orange, and grey paint. His optics and mouth emitted an eerie- almost ghoulish- lime-green glow. The way his manibale twisted and turned indicated some level of pain going on inside of him.

He and his group had encountered some resistance in the form of Autotroopers. One of the white-armored soldiers lunged at him, but the 'Con caught him by the throat. With his other hand, an orange-yellow energy coated him and his prey. The bot screamed in agony before the Energon lights dotting his body and his optics faded away. He dropped the drained chassis onto the floor.

Dead End took in a sigh of relief and smiled. "Now that was refreshing," He said with a chuckle.

As the Vehicons gunned the last of the Autotroopers, his comms lit up.

"Thrust to Dead End," Said a voice. "Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear," The Stunticon replied. "Just enjoying a quick snack."

"Focus, soldier," Retorted the tactician. "We need someone to disable the turrets inside."

"On it," said the energy-vampire before hanging up.

He and his crew transformed into vehicle mode and rolled out. They mowed down any Autotropper that stood in their path until they found one of the cannons. It was being manned by a Minicon of all 'Bots. Dead End didn't dwell on this fact too much and drew out his E.D.K. TechVolt and overloaded the gun's systems with its electrical charge. The thing exploded before the little one realized what was going and was flung into the wall behind him. He found himself buried in its wreckage, with only a serve and his head sticking out. He could feel some shrapnel cutting into legs and buried arm.

Dead End stared down at the Autobot trying to dig his way out. "Don't bother struggling," He said as he rose his servo. "You will be free soon enough."

He activated his vampiric powers and began draining the poor fellow of his Energon. Before he could finish his meal, though, his troops were blown to smithereens with a rocket. He heard someone switch modes before a fist slammed into his cranium. He lost concentration and stumbled, open for a volley from a Neutron assault rifle. That same bot drew out a sword and hacked away at his minions. Dead End sprinted towards a corner at the hall and took cover.

Chromedome knelt to Rewind's side while more Autotroopers came to his aid. "You alright?" He asked with concern.

"Ugh, I'm fine," Rewind said weakly, visor flickering. "Leg feels like scrap. Arm too.

Chromedome clasped his hands on Rewind's free one. "We need to get you recharged," He said. He summoned an energon cube from his storage compartment and handed it to him. The Minicon soaked its contents up and his lights flared up.

"Thanks," he said. "But it'll just leak back out. I need some someone to close the wounds."

The bulk dug him out of the scrap and cradled him in his arms. "Cover me," he ordered. "I need to find First Aid."

The troops let out a short "roger" and opened fire on a peeping Dead End. Chromedome ran the way he came through, ducking under blaster fire. A Vehicon noticed the pair and attempted to rush him. He was quickly cut down by the Autobot after he converted an arm into an assault rifle. The Bulk slide under another and headbutted the one behind him. Eventually he found his target in the middle of a firefight.

At the center of a makeshift ring was a white-and-red bot with a blue visor. His shoulders markings resembling squiggly lines (like readings of a spark's pulse). This their chief medical officer, First Aid.

A Vehicon was firing at him with a Nucleon Charge Rifle, yet his aim was rather terrible. First Aid's was not so shoddy. A well thrown axe lodged itself into the minion's faceplate, splattering energon all over his friends. Another shot off an Autotropper's arm, though, and he fell to the ground. The doctor rushed to his side and drew out his Energon repair ray, cauterizing the wound with it. Chromedome waved his free arm in the air.

"First Aid!" He shouted.

The medic turned to the Mnenosurgent, converting his free arm into a Path Blaster.

"Duck!" He responded.

Chromedome did as told and yelped a little as molten metal soared over his head. It landed in the face of a Vehicon behind him, melting it and seeping into his spark-chamber. The corpse collapsed as the yellow-visored bot leapt into the circle of scrap. As soon as he did, found himself surrounded by bodies. Some of them functional, some not. Rewind seemed just as disturbed by the sight as him. First aid noticed the Energon on the Bulk's arms.

"Set him down," FIrst Aid said.

Chromedome rested the Minicon onto the floor. First Aid aimed with his ray and closed up all his wounds.

Rewind gave the medic a thumbs-up. "Yah, thanks doc," He said.

The lower portions of his visor darkened one, the angle indicating pride or happiness. "You're welcome," He replied.

A savage warcry caught their attention. Dead End came flying down on them, blades first. Chromedome summoned his own swords and parried the 'Con's drop-attack. He kicked him out of the ring and leapt after him. The two quickly engaged each other in a duel, taking their fight into another hall. Rewind was about to go after the two, but a firm hand from First Aid stopped him.

"He can handle himself," The medic said. "But my patients can't in their current state."

Rewind glanced around. Many of the functioning soldiers were didn't seem to be in any shape to fight. Even few walk or transform.

"Help me get the wounded to safety," The Protectobot pleaded. "There are some stasis pods nearby we can store them in."

The Minicon paused for a moment, processing the situation. "But what can I do? I can't carry Bulks or anything."

First Aid pointed at the cannons on the little one's back. "You got those," He said. "Statis rounds, right? Should be able to stun them long enough for us to slip through."

Rewind placed a servo on his chin. "I'll see what I can do," He said.

The Minicon hopped out from behind cover and converted into tank-mode. It wasn't as imposing as Brawl's, but it had its advantages. He fired at a couple of Vehicons, trapping them in Statis locks.

"Wha-?!" His victim shouted. "Can't. Move!"

Rewind kept firing at the 'Cons nearest to him. With a way cleared, First Aid and the standing troops pushed through. Some of them were in vehicle mode, carrying the wounded on their hoods. As they headed towards the pods, Rewind caught a glimpse of Chromedome and Dead End. He stood there watching for a moment, frozen as he watched their battle. A cry from the Autotroopers brought him back to reality and he rejoined them. He knew what his Bulk friend was capable of. He just had to have faith in him.

* * *

By this point in time the Arclight had just exited the debris field. Though it had been a bumpy ride, the ship managed to evade the torpedoes and shot down every Seeker outside. Prowl allowed a sigh of relief to escape from his lips.

"Trailbreaker, report," He commanded.

The blue-visored bot typed a sequence into his computer. "Looks like we got all the bogies, sir," He said. "Some of the 'Cons managed to slip in through the gaps they made, though. We're getting reports of firefights and wounded. I don't think the Leviathan ever gave chase after us, though."

Prowl smiled. Swerve's plan was a success. But they could've just as easily flown over the moon by now. They could be hiding anywhere.

A voice came up on his terminal. "Prowl! We could really use a servo here!" He shouted.

Prowl traced the call and brought up a live feed of the Sargent's location. It was on the engine decks on the rear of the ship. Bringing up a live feed of the area revealed it to be swarming with Vehicons and Seekers. Kup, Rodimus, and several more 'bots were hiding behind cover, raining blaster fire and rockets at them. They were heavily outnumbered.

Prowl pressed a button and activated the intercom in the docking bay.

"Prowl to Scattershot, do you read me?" He asked.

" _Loud and clear, chief,"_ responded the voice.

"Get as many Destroyers and Marauders as can you can to the engine deck," He commanded. "Protect the thrusters and engines at all costs."

" _Roger roger!"_ Laughed the tank-bot before he hung up.

Red Alert's radar started beeping after that. "Captain, we're picking up movement." He said.

"Where?" Asked Prowl.

His answer came in the form of a shadow looming over the _Arclight_. The vessel rumbled as something pierced through the hulls. The mystery object came crashing down through the room above him, nearly landing atop him. The captain leapt off his seat just in time to dodge a tow cable impaling the ship.

Prowl groaned as he rose back up. "Nevermind," He said.

Whirl instinctively converted his claws into blades. "We got cannon fodder incoming!" He shouted.

Vehicon Shotgunners descended onto the bridge, ripping Autotroppers to shreds with their Scatter Blasters. Prowl duked behind his terminal and drew out his Photon Burst rifle. One by one, he blasted off the craniums of the minions. Whirl's oversized pincers meanwhile made for great shielding, blocking their shots. He sliced the fellows to pieces at every chance he got. Yet even as they mowed down the enemy, the ship was being bombarded from the outside.

" _ **WARNING; SHIELDS AT FIFTEEN PERCENT."**_ Droned the ship's computer. _**"FIFTY-EIGHT PERCENT OF BLASTERS DISABLED."**_

Prowl growled as a telecom opened up on his monitor. It revealed footage of the battles going on within the vessel. Vehicons swarmed the decks like Insecticons and mowed down anything in their path. Many Autotroopers were in critical condition. Many more had already fallen. Another camera showed live footage of Kup and Rodimus firing at more of them.

" _We're losing ground here Prowl!"_ The sargent exclaimed through the comslink. _"We're barely holding the fort as is!"_

"Keep firing," Commanded Prowl. "Marauders and Destroyers are on their way to your position now."

" _Tell them to kick it into overdrive!"_ Shouted Rodimus.

The crimson bot ducked under cover as Seekers rained laser blasts down on him. Yet among the crowd one of them stood out. Hovering in the center of the storm was a forest-green and purple flyer. It wasn't sleek like the Seekers but rather massive and hulkling. A bomber perhaps?

Kup had seen that alt-mode before and who it belonged to. And it was moving towards them.

"Everybot get inside and close the gates now!" He shouted.

"What? And let the-" He stopped as he saw the giant plane above and immediately ran for the door.

The bomber converted into a brutish robot with massive fists. His head had a massive optic, with two more on each side. In one hand was a mace, longer than the average Bulk. His other one quickly extended and lit up.

"Glory to Megatron!" Cried Lugnut.

His fist collided with the floor and the whole area was bathed in a bright orange light. The impact from the resulting explosion was felt all across the Arclight (and the Leviathan, to a lesser degree). Prowl struggled to keep his balance while the ship quaked. His monitor picked up nothing but static on the engine deck's security camera. A new alarm flared to light and coated the room in a red light.

" _ **WARNING: PoKE DETECTED IN ENGINE DECK. MAIN THRUSTERS IN CRITICAL CONDITION!"**_ announced the ship's main computer.

Prowl snarled under his breath. "Weapons update," He commanded.

" _ **SEVENTY-EIGHT PERCENT OF CANNONS OFFLINE,"**_ Noted the computer. _**"MISSILES ARMED AND READY."**_

"Well that could've come in handy in - oh, I don't know," Whirl began sarcastically. " _THE NANO-SECOND WE ARRIVED IN THIS FRAGGIN' SYSTEM!_ "

Another rumble rocked the Arclight. The former Wrecker growled. "Just unload the damn things now and get us outta here!"

"At this range?" Exclaimed Red Alert. "We'll all be caught in the blast radius!"

Prowl gripped his forehead, his processor aching. Then an idea presented itself to him.

"Then we just need to be off the ship when it happens," He said.

"Excuse me?" Said the security chief.

Prowl tapped into his coms and broadcasted it to every Autobot connected.

"All personal, get to the nearest escape pods and dropships! Repeat, find an escape pod or dropship!" He ordered. "We are about to initiate Protocol R.I.D. Do not disengage unless I give the word."

He turned to the surviving crewbots. "That includes the majority of you. Whirl, Trailbreaker, stay here and protect the computer while I active the countdown for the missles."

He linked up his coms while he type away. "You there Groove?" He asked.

"' _Course I am,"_ The Protectobot replied. _"Making my way to the deck right now."_

"When you get there, find my shuttle and reboot its defense systems," He said. "Defend it until a few friends and I reach you."

" _Aye aye captain,"_ Replied the 'bot.

" _ **ALERT! INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM DECEPTICON VESSEL!"**_ Hailed the ship's computer.

"Patch it through," Said Prowl. "You two keep the caller busy while I work."

The main projector spawned an image of Thrust's head front and center.

" _Salutations, Autobots,"_ Greeted the air marshal.

Whirl laughed. "Hello yourself, squidhead," He retorted.

The Seeker growled at the nickname. _"Not you too,_ " he muttered under his breath. He cleared his throat. " _I'm sure you've already noticed this, but your ship is… a little out of shape. Your engines and weapons are down, your crew is in shambles. We could finish you off right here and now, but that's not why I called. I'm here to offer mercy. All I want is information. Answer my question and I may grant you the dignity of burning up in the atmosphere below."_

Trailbreaker crossed his arms. "How do we know you'll keep your word?" He retorted.

" _You don't,"_ The Decepticon replied. _"But you don't have many options left, do you?"_

"Then spit it out, already," Whirl said.

The digital face floated closer to the as its optics narrowed. _"Where. Is. Optimus. Prime?"_ He demanded.

The two bots turned to one another. Whirl simply shrugged.

"Even if we did know," Trailbreaker admitted. "We'd never tell you."

Thrust's brows furrowed. _"Then you are of no use to us."_ He said darkly. The transmission ended.

The cables ensnaring them suddenly went limp. The _Leviathan_ had detached them and was moving into position before them. As it turned around to face them, Prowl stopped tying.

"Uh, anybot got a sinking feeling about this?" Whirl asked.

The other two nodded. As if on cue, nine panels under the main bridge bloomed open. A massive cannon jutted out from the opening, glowing a fiery orange-red. Prowl just stared jaws agap at the sight for a few seconds but he shook it off.

"Change of plans," The captain said as he frantically changed the terminal's input. "I'm firing all remaining missiles and torpedoes on that cannon. You two start rolling out ASAP. I'll be right behind you."

"But-" Trailbreaker protested.

"GO!"

Trailbreaker stood there for a moment. As Prowl entered the final commands into his console, Whirl grabbed the ground-based bot by the shoulders and threw him up into the air. The ex-Wrecker converted into his helicopter-mode and magnetized the bot to his underside. The blue flyer dragged him kicking and screaming from the bridge and towards the hanger. Once Prowl finished his job, he transformed into his wheeled form and darted after them.

"Now!" He shouted into the intercoms.

He could hear the clicking and whooshing of the escape pods all around him. He faintly picked up the engines of the dropship departing from their stations. And he could hear an explosion erupting from behind him. A wave of heat and flame was speeding down the hall just behind him. He activated his turbo-boosters in an attempt to outrun the blast, but it only put a modest amount of distance between him and it.

His shuttle was up ahead now. Surrounding it was a forcefield, no doubt the danywork of Trailbreaker. Whirl was on the back reaching out for him with his claw. Prowl saw some cargo up ahead, arranged in a slope. A convenient ramp in his case. The captain drove up towards it and kicked in his boosters again. As he soared through the air he converted back to protoform mode.

A small opening spawned in the forcefield for him to slip in through. He ended up crashing into Whirl and sending the two of them tumbling into the front seats. Just as the door and bubble closed behind them, the whole ship spun out of control. Everyone was flung around like ragdolls and could make sense of anything right now. Prowl managed to grab onto his seat and brought up his monitors. The heat shields were active and all sorts of warnings were flashing in front of his face.

"Brace for impact!" He shouted.

It would be the last thing they heard before they crashed and the world went black.

* * *

Moments ago on the Leviathan, Trust had just disconnected from the transmission. He turned to Swtichblade.

"Permission to least my little project on the field, captain?" He inquired.

A nod was all the blessing he needed. He synched his coms with the Seeker armada and the Vehicons aboard the Arclight.

"Attention Decepticons! The Autobot vessel is crippled and defenseless. Their engines are dead and the crew in chains. Now is our chance to finish them off!" He said.

He could hear the 'Cons cheering throughout the network. He smiled under his mouthplate as he pressed a button. A metallic groaning sound echoed through the bridge as diagrams and readings flooded the main computer. The schematics of a large cannon popped up at the center.

" _ **HYDRA CANNON ONLINE."**_ Droned the computer.

Thrust rubbed his servos together.

"All personnel are to return to the _Leviathan._ Repeat, return to the Leviathan. The fireworks are about to begin."

"Sir," Piped in a Seeker via the comms. "I picked up something on my thermal scanners as I left the enemy ship."

Switchblade crossed his arms chuckling. "Missiles, no doubt. Always defiant to the end. Computer, increase threshold of shields by sixty percent. Leave the rest of the power for the cannon."

" _ **ACKNOWLEDGED."**_ Boomed the system.

A minute passed before all the warriors returned to ship. Once they had all returned, Thrust showed them the true power of the Hydra Cannon. The blast struck the bridge first, instantly blowing it to shreds. The energy corced through the rest of the vessel with similar results. Just before the attack, though, the Autobots abandoned ship. It was of no concern to them. They could always hunt them down later.

What did concern them was the payload it managed to deploy around the same time. Dozens of missiles were launched from all around the Arclight and straight towards the Leviathan. No, _under_ it. The captain and his advisor quickly realized what they were up to.

"RetracttheHydraCannonandrerouteallpowerto-" Thrust blurted out.

Too late. The torpedoes hit their mark. The gun exploded into a fiery maelstrom that ate away at the underbelly of the ship. Reports of decks being lost in the explosion popped up all around their main projector. They could see 'Cons and escape pods falling into the planet's orbit. And to their dismay, the bridge would suffer a similar fate.

Another explosion sent Thrust and several others out into the void. The seeker instinctively assumed flight-mode and engaged his personal heat shields. Many of the others didn't fare so well and began burning up upon atmospheric entry. Switchblade was nowhere to be seen. He saw holographic constructs taking the place of windows and walls where the originals stood. The engines had absorbed some of the Hydra Cannon's energies and burned out from the strain. The ship managed to its attention towards the celestial body behind it and made planetfall. He assumed that Switchblade had survived the chaos and asserted manuel control over the _Leviathan_.

The tactician opened up his comms. "After it!" Commanded Thrust. "We must ensure the safety of-"

Another burst of energy interrupted him. This time, seemed to originate from the atmosphere. A purple bolt of lightning struck everything entering the exosphere. Though the heat shields still held, it managed to bypass them and directly strike at the inner mechanisms of anyone outside an escape pod or vehicle. Thrust and his Seekers found themselves mode-locked and unable to steer properly. Many of them knocked out cold upon contact. The sky commander barely clinged onto councisness himself. In his current state he could hardly feel the crash landing and the cold winds clawing at his chassis.

And then Statislock took hold of him.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **And that about rounds up the prologue. Welcome to Remnant everyone!**

 **This chapter generally held the same idea for its course; Bots wake up and notice surroundings, fly through fragments of Remnant's moon, get blown up and fall as space debris, that sorta stuff. Only concern I had was making their downfall (and by extension the Leviathan's) believable (or at least logical).**

 **Before anyone asks, yes the Hydra Cannon here is based off of the one from** _ **Armada**_ **. It just doesn't require nine living WMDs to power it.**

 **Now onto the bots. First up is Swerve. He uses his** _ **Prime**_ **toy (a retool of their mold for Breakdown) from Japan instead of his usual tiny G1 size. Figured that the Autobots could use a muscle-man on their side. Of course, there's also a chance that he has his IDW counterpart's skills as a bartender. Whether or not his** _ **Arms Micron**_ **partner Sou will make an appearance is something I'm debating on.**

 **Lugnut uses the design of his TF 2010 figure.**

 **FIrst Aid's kidna up in the air. While I imagine his Cybertronian form to be akin to his IWD comics portrayal, his terran mode is likely to be based off of his** _ **Earth Wars**_ **or** _ **Combiner Wars**_ **design.**

 **Dead End. Oh Dead End… earlier drafts for this chapter had his personality similar to his** _ **Revenge of the Fallen**_ **and** _ **Bumblebee**_ **prequel comic portrayals in regard to his personality. Sadistic, cannibalistic, vampiric. Traces of the last trait can still be seen in the final version. The current one tries to do his Prime toy's version of him (which I assume is in turn based on his G1 personality).**

 **Red Alert would be similar to his cameo in RID 2015's finale, a retool of that series Sideswipe.**

 **Trailbreaker (or -cutter.) uses his Generations figure's design rather than his Legends one (a retool of Ironhide's) in Prime's toyline. It was honestly tough to choose between the two. I personally find the latter one to be more badass, but I also knew that the former might be more recognizable and iconic (given his role in the RID comics. Rest In Peace dude).**

 **Next chapter might take a little while longer to write than the last two. You see I'm not gonna use the Canon RWBY characters (or at least the main heroes) in the storyline. I'd rather not just have the arrival of the bots hijack their Relic quest and get them tangled up in the Salem/Ozma mess. They're recognizable sure, but I kinda want to give them freedom away from the main conflict for the most part.**

 **Instead I'll be using Fanon/Original Characters to act as the humans (and Faunus. Yes there is one) for the Autobots. Unfortunately, they're pretty much in the concept stage and still need refining before I feel comfortable presenting them. I will say one of them is in a comatose state due to the disasters spawned by the events of the Vytal Festival. Part of this is that I thought it'd be easier to manage three heroic OCs instead of a full team. The other reason is because, well… let's just say the active members of the Team are miles apart right now. And two of them would like it to say that way.**

 **The Decepticons are just as likely to get aid from natives as well. The White Fang and many iterations of the Decepticon organization were founded on the idea of rebelling against a bigoted/corrupt system. I think they would get along just fine for the most part (or at least, the Fang would make gullible puppets for the 'Cons).**

 **I also considered an expy to TF:Prime's MECH organization showing up at some later point, but I haven't worked out the whole thing yet** **without it looking like a rehash or complete import of them** **.**

 **Well that's about all I wanted to talk about here. Until then, I'll see you guys on the next run. Before I go, I'll leave you with this treat.**

* * *

Next time on Transformers: Vestige!

 _Our first scene is that of Prowl's shuttle, resting in a snowbank. The winds howled as the sky above a an ash-grey. It is covered head-to-toe in gashes dents, with exposed wires and sparks flying out. Lights in its windows were flickering like fading embers. Prowl speaks first, in an exhausted and rather annoyed tone._

Prowl: If you are hearing this, than Protocol RID is already in effect.

 _First Aid stumbles out of his escape pod, collapsing onto his hands and knees. He is in a woodland area. We quickly cut to Swerve in vehicle mode, scouting the dunes of a desert. His voice is the next to come up._

Swerve: I don't know where in Primus's name I am right now, but I'll tell you one thing-

 _The next scene is one of panic. A group of humans- some of them with animalistic features- are opening fire on a Cybertronian silhouette emerging from smoke and fire. Their attire and vehicles indicated that they were bandits or some other type of criminals. Crimson eyes burned through the smog as he twirled an axe around in a menacing manner._

Swerve: -this planet has the worst welcoming committee I have ever seen.

 _We cut to several pieces of battles between the Autobots and strange black-and-white creatures with blood-red markings. Rewind is shadowed by a lycanthropic breed as he wonders in the woods. A quick fade-to-black transitions to Whirl in a dogfight with several avian monsters. Autotroopers are firing at an unseen shape in some water when a tentacle impales one through the chest and drags him to a watery death._

 _Thrust's voice is the next one to pop up._

Thrust: All survivors are to return at the Leviathan immediately. Repeat, all surviving Decepticons are to report at the Leviathan.

 _As he his voice-clip plays, a montage of Decepticons play over. One of them-bearing massive propeller-like claws- scans a VTOL tiltjet aircraft at a military base in an arctic setting. Another ray pops out of a back alley and a hearse drives out shortly afterwards. The ruins of a tower- with the apparent statue of a wyvern fused to it- are visible as it enters the highway. A dark pickup truck with crimson-tinted windows drives away from wreckage and carnage. A red spindly Minicon stalks a police station and examines their cars. Several Seekers fly in a formation, all having scanned some aircraft or another._

 _The final scene to play out features Kup and a number of Vehicon corpses at a farming settlement. Many of the natives- some again bearing features usually found on animals- are corralled and surrounded by surviving mooks. The one leading them- clad in grey armor and bearing a yellow face- points a Riot Cannon at his captives. His voice plays through this scene at several angles._

Offroad: Either you exit left stage, or I close their curtains…

 _The final shots showcase Kup's scowl and the Stunitcon's sadistic smirk. One more showed a particular member of the race with extra kibble, bearing Ox horns and a strange combination of a shotgun and trident. He is staring intently at someone far taller than him, seemingly growling at them._

Offroad: ... _forever_.


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Arrival To Remnant

 **Several minutes before arrival, City of Vale**

Within the streets of Vale stood a woman of fair skin, with yellow eyes and lavender hair. Her attire was rather basic, jet-black business clothes sans her purple undershirt. All around her the crew was busy getting ready for the broadcast. People finicking with the camera's scopes and microphones. Folk in the van keeping an eye on the network connections. Just another day at Vale News Network.

Truth be told, she was rather nervous. She hadn't been out in the field for some time. She was more used to being the newsreader instead of an actual reporter. There has been a shortage of folk willing to do fieldwork following the… tragedy months ago. Many of her co-workers are still suffering from the attack on Beacon though. Some of them received psychological scars, others more physical. Many of these folk were the hardest working and most popular individuals within the company. Their departure hit everyone real hard. Financially and emotionally.

Many of the survivors quit the industry following the disaster, for fear of their personal safety and loved ones. Ratings have plummeted for every station in Vale and it has been a grueling climb back up. Those that remained have to salvage and bear the burdens of their former co-workers until they can find suitable replacements. Progress has been slow so far, and the current climate may not speed things up any time soon.

On the plus side, her presence may garner an increase in viewership. Higher viewership means higher ratings and earnings. On the down side her people skills aren't exactly the best. She didn't have a reporter's tongue when it came to interviewing everyone. She's already stumbled over a session with a Councillor regarding the Kingdom's heavy regulation of air traffic.

Lisa spotted one of her workers-a blue-haired man- walking out of the local coffee shop. He had a tray of at least twelve cups of iced coffee in his hands. He seemed to be having trouble balancing them all. Many of her co-workers were kind enough to relieve him of some of the weight. He turned to the newsreader as he sat the tray down, whipping the sweat off of his brow.

"Drink?" He asked in an exhausted tone.

She smiled. "Thank you Qobalt," She replied.

The man grabbed a coffee and made his way towards her. Unfortunately he didn't watch his footing and ended up tripping over a cable wire. Poor fellow fell face first into the concrete road and lost the beverage. It ended up colliding into the lady's face and splattering its contents all over her. Everything above the waist was soaked in ice-cold liquid. She growled through her rattling teeth.

"Duhduh-damm-it Quhquhqa-Qobuhlt!" She stuttered.

Half of their co-workers laughed and pointed fingers at them. The other half just shook their heads. Qobalt ran to another stand and grabbed a towel for Lavender. Throwing it at her, it collided into her chest and send her stumbling back. One of their co-workers was nearby to catch her before she fell. She glared at Qobalt before drying herself off and heading into the van to change.

Without her sending death-glares at him, Qobalt let out a sigh and turned to one of his friends. "Remind me why we're out here in the middle of the night, Forrest?" He asked.

The green-eyed co-worked smirked. "Still got wax in your ears, bro?" The other man replied. "Our eggheads at the observatory picked up some flares in the skies. Think there's a meteor shower coming."

"That's it? Meteor shower? Then why have all these people out here when a reporter and cameraman would suffice?"

"Because something might survive atmospheric entry, genius," Said Lavender as she entered the scene. "And the boss wants us to catch it's landing."

Qobalt jumped at the sound of her voice and straightened himself out. Forrest patted him on the back.

"Relax man," He said. "This ain't the army."

"Really?" Qobalt retorted. "Sure as hell feels like one right now. I mean, who sends their workers out here to chase flaming rocks? With the risk of- oh I don't know- getting crushed by them?!"

Qobalt got into Forrest's face and starting ranting in it. Suddenly the cool laid-back surfer-type dude exploded into a volcano and got into a shouting match with him. Lavender pressed her fingers against her forehead and let out an irritated growl. She walked to the two men and pushed them away from each other.

"Look, we're all tired," She admitted. "It's been a bumpy road since Beacon. We've all been carrying extra weight lately and it's driving some of us crazy. The Kingdom's on edge and we're still dealing with skirmishes with the Grimm. But we have bills to pay and a mouth to feed. So if you're done moaning and complaining, we have work to do."

Forrest and Qobalt quieted down and stared at one another. They hastily apologized to each other and resuming their duties. One of the IT guys at the van waved a signal at her. It's showtime. Letting out a sigh of relief, she followed the cameraman's directions and position herself in the clearing. Hopefully the network will get a good view of the shower.

She grabbed her microphone and brushed her hair briefly. Cyril Ian's face popped up from a holographic projector at the side of the camera.

"Tell me Lisa," Said the projection. "Is tonight a good one for a romantic stroll?"

She chuckled. "Certainly seems like something straight of a romance film, viewers," She replied. "But I don't think our meteorologists would necessarily agree with us. We have reports of unidentified flying objects appearing in Remnant's atmosphere. None of them match descriptions of previous visitors to of our solar system. Could it be a new comet that had the misfortune of pulled into out gravity well, or is there more than what our instruments see?"

She held up her hand for dramatic pause. Fading into view were a series of streaks in the skies. Some of them appeared to be heading west towards Vacuo. Others moved on over the island of Vytal up north. Yet a few of them were heading towards her group general direction instead.

And they were growing larger.

Everyone ducked to the ground as one of the meteorites soared over their heads. It crashed through some ruined apartments on the outskirts of Beacon's own. Another seemed to fall towards Mountain Glenn. One more slammed straight into the pier and smashed the wooden deck into a thousand pieces. A fourth went into the Emerald Forest. The camera picked up some of the workers cursing, but the censor blocked out those bits of the transmission.

"Cyril, are you getting this!?" Lisa shouted.

"I am," The hologram confirmed. "And I'm hardly believing it."

Lisa rose back onto her feet and just marveled at the smoky trails around her. She reached into her purse and grabbed her Scroll, frantically dialing a number on it.

"Miss Goodwitch, you there?" She asked. The crew's camera couldn't make out anything being said on the device, but they could hear and read it's user's reactions.

"Something just crashed at the edge of Beacon," She revealed. "Something big. Can you meet us there?"

The recipient at the end hung up. Lisa scowled.

"Nevermind," she said as she turned towards the hologram. "Cyril, can you send someone over to the docks? I'll be heading towards Beacon's outskirts."

"Wait, what!?" Qobalt protested. "Can't you just let the authorit-"

Lisa pushed him aside and hopped into the driver's seat of the van. "Hop in, boys," She shouted. "We're going on a road trip!"

Everyone packed up as quickly as possibly and boarded their vehicles. Cyril had a concerned look on his face before the projector was offlined. All followed Lavender's chariot while Forrest took control of its mounted camera. Another projector- one installed in the back of the van- was activated and Cyrils face came back online.

"Getting reports of cops moving towards the pier," Noted the newsreader. "Bryck and his crew are already onroute to the scene. More meteorites falling in, but they seem to be further out on the planet. You sure you want to go after the one near Beacon?"

"Yep," The woman said with a grin. "Where we're going is bound to be more interesting."

"How?"

"Miss Goodwitch is likely on her way to Beacon thanks to my little tip," Lisa explained. "And chances are that the Grimm will be drawn to the commotion too."

"And when both parties reach there," Forrest noted. "There's bound to be a firefight between them. Lisa, you sneaky girl."

She smiled. "One of my best qualities," she gloated. "Just need to keep our distance and our watch the fireworks. From there, the sky's the limit."

* * *

 **Meanwhile at the pier…**

The Vale Police Department was already on the scene. With them was a round, mustached man. He was an older gentleman with burgundy attire and graying hair. A bearded officer with darker hair and pinkish eyes offered the man a snack bar.

"Ya hungry, Port?" He asked with his mouth full of chips.

Peter Port laughed at the sight. "No thank you, Mr. Burnham. I'm already full as is." His gaze shifted towards the pier. "So a meteorite crashed through here, eh?"

The officer nodded as he swallowed his food. "Manager of the place could barely keep himself from pissing before we got here. Babbled on about flashing lights under the water and stuff moving in the shadows."

Another VPD officer- this one with brown hair and tinted glasses- knelt at the edge of the site. "Think it's poisonous or radioactive?" He asked.

"If anybody sees you grow wings or a third arm, we'll howler," Said Burnham.

The other officer flipped the cheeseburger at his partner, earning a laugh from him. Then he noticed something blinking in the water. He stepped back and reached for his pistol. Port moved over to where he stood and spotted the lights as well. He drew out his blunderbuss and motioned "wait here" with his hand. His eyes squinted at the colors gleaming from the waves and widened as they grew brighter.

"Everybody back!" Was all he could say before he was flung back towards the crowd.

An explosion erupted from the waves and onto the surface. Most of the actual blast was underwater, so all it did for the most part was drench everyone with the liquid. However, while everyone was scrambling to make sense of what happened, none noticed a green ray falling upon their vehicles. Nobody noticed a purple-eyed giant shifting into a form resembling one of the police cars and driving off.

If Barricade could in his current form, he would have smiled at his handiwork. Setting his escape pod to self-destruct managed to distract the natives, along with destroying all evidence of his existence. Frenzy babbled on in Cybertronian about how he could've ripped the enforcers to shreds, but the Bulk ignored him. The last thing he needed was starting a fight without any intel on his surroundings. His scans of their vehicles picked up a two-way transmission. Between the officers and the main hub, perhaps? Could hold useful information.

He traced the signal to the opposite end and parked in the office's garage. Frenzy exited the passenger's seat and slipped in through an open window. Minutes passed before he received an update from the Minicon. Audio files, video footage, contact numbers, their native language, and a thousand other things. It didn't take the DCJ operative long to read through it all. This data would definitely come in handy.

Barricade opened up a comms channel. "This is Barracide of the Decepticon Crown Justices. Does anyone read me?"

After a minute of static, another voice popped up. "Medical officer Flatline speaking. You in the city?"

"Affirmative," Barricade said. "I have already infiltrated local law enforcement and downloaded all of their data. Transmitting now."

A minute passed before he got a response from him. "Quite the treasure grove you found," The medic remarked. "Shame about that tower in their academy, though. Could have been very useful right now. I trust that you are monitoring their radios?"

"Indeed. I'm picking up reports of other crash sites around this 'Kingdom'. We are not the only Cybertronians here."

"Shall we join in on the investigations?" Asked Flatline.

"Negative," Barricade said. "Rendezvous with me at the southeast border instead."

Barricade transmitted the coordinates and cut the feed afterwards. None of the citizens questioned him setting off his sirens as he down the streets. None of the officers had the time to notice his presence or determine his destination. The entire city was entangled in gossip with the whole "meteorite" investigations. Perfect chance for someone like him to slip under their radar.

At last he reached the edge of the agricultural district. No natives were tending to the fields at this hour. He powered down his headlights and parked at a fenced portion of the city's walls. A number of warning signs littered the area, ordering civilians to never venture beyond them. His pillaging in the offices' database mentioned a failed expansion of the settlement. Frenzy seemed eager to crawl over the structure, but Barricade forbade him. If the organics were willing to seal the territory off, it meant that something was on the other side. Something even he wasn't too keen on seeing.

The Minicon fiddled around with his partner's new radio. The Bulk kept the volume at a low level to keep from waking the locals. He didn't wish to draw any more attention to his or his fellow soldiers' presence. Not while he had a trigger-happy Minicon with him. All they could do now was wait.

* * *

 **Elsewhere in the Emerald Forest...**

An escape pod's door burst off its handles and steam rolled out of it. First Aid stumbled out of the craft and collapsed onto his knees. His HUD was still trying to readjust itself follow the light show above. He didn't know what that was all about, but he was fortanente that his pod shielded him from… whatever the energy was doing to all those Aerialbots and Seekers.

He managed to place his patients in stasis pods, but they were ejected from the Arclight prior its destruction. Now they're scattered to the solar winds across this new world. He needed to find and fix them. _Now_.

Something was knocking on his back. Or rather the _inside_ of it. A panel opened up from that area and a bone-white hand shot out of it. A certain ebony Minicon gasped for air (or at the cybertronian equivalent of that) as he climbed out of the Bulk's storage compartment and hopped onto the ground beside him.

"Was it _really_ necessary to stuff me in there?" Huffed an irritated Rewind.

"Would you rather ricochet around in an escape pod while it was making atmospheric entry?" Retorted First Aid. "Besides, I thought you were designed for such things."

"Not for cramped places like that," The Minicon replied.

The medic examined his surroundings. It appeared to be a forest, fairly moderate temperatures. The color of the leaves indicated that it was early spring in this part of the planet. He was no environmentalist or meteorologist, but based on these observations he concluded that he was near the world's equator. He picked up faint radio signals from a distance over. A settlement perhaps.

There were a number of ruins around them. Based on the vegetation growth and the wear, they must've been at least centuries. They composed primarily of a rock-like material. Primitive, but at least it effective. A scan revealed no pathogens or harmful bacteria within the area (or at least the types harmful to mechanoids). The markings on some of them indicated conflict of some type.

Something else caught Rewind's optic. Tapping the other's leg and grabbing his attention, he pointed to a cliff ahead. There were more ruins, but they seemed to be composed of a different materiel. The wear on them wasn't as extensive either from their position. No, these seemed to have been fairly recent. First Aid could make out a tower with appeared to be a carving of a predatory creature near the top. It appeared to have suffered an implosion or something of a similar nature. He doubted it was nature's handiwork.

His scanners picked up a signal nearby. Another bot?

"Rewind, you picking up anything?" Inquired the medic.

The other bot nodded. "Yeah," He confirmed. "But I don't think it's Cybertronian. Native, maybe?"

"Only one way to find out," Said First Aid.

The white-armored bot converted into vehicle mode. "Hop on," He said.

Rewind climbed onto the roof and magnetized feet on it. The larger Autobot sped off into the woods, his antigrav wheels leaving a soft imprint on the earth. After a few minutes of driving and strafing around trees, the duo located the source.

It was the the remains of an airship, if the presence of the wings and propellers were of any indication. It looked as though it was for transporting something. Cargo perhaps? Rewind hopped off of First Aid as the latter transformed into Protoform mode. Both of them strood towards the vessel and the Bulk knelt down beside it.

"Don't think either of my forms can fit into that thing," The medic noted. "Think you take a gander?"

Rewind offered a short nod and entered the ship. Unsurprisingly the lights were blown out, so he had to toggle his HUD's nightvision. Just as his view flickered to green, he could've sworn he heard a growl in the distance. Something shifted in the corner of his optic, but he found nothing. He shook his head. His HUD must be glitching from the lightshow up above.

Most of the cargo consisted of chemicals and medical equipment. He could see bones scattered across the room, dark spots on some of the beds. The same color was found on the floor and walls. Some of the stains resembled trails or claw marks. Something told him that those weren't rust. He shivered at the thought of what the patients went through here.

The Minicon found the cockpit next, covered in claw marks and bullet holes. Bones were scattered across the room and there was another crimson stain. He detected an intact black box and scanned its content. He could make out growling and screams, flesh torn and gunshots fired. It all felt like something from a horror story.

He also found a small white device within the console. Removing it revealed to be a data pad of some sort. Shifting through it unveiled a motherload of content within it. Photos of the owner and a number of individuals (friends and family?), comms codes, and traces of something called the Cross Continental Transmit System. It appeared to be global network for distributing information. He attempted to connect to it through the pad, but was surprised to see an error message. He attempted to hook himself up to it with the comm codes and found the same result.

A clank caught his attention. Venturing out of the cockpit, he found some IV stands lying on the floor. Those diffendetly were not like that before. A growl emitted from behind him and he turned to see crimson eyes. Before he could get a decent look at their source, two claws came flying at him.

He crashed into the wall behind him and was pinned against it by some type of creature. It resembled a lycanthrope, possessing a pitch-black body with bony protrusions around it. A claw wrapped itself around his throat and lifted it up to its face. The beast stared down at him, revealing crimson markings on it's skull-like armor. A faint stream of blood-red light leaked from its eyes, bearing the same color. More of its kin emerged from the shadows and moved towards him.

His captor raised its claw and swung it down at him, but he caught it with one of free servos. The other converted into a Pathblaster and fired point blank at its chest. It sent the monster skidding across the floor and Rewind made a break for it. Many of them attempted to pounce on him but he evaded most of their efforts. One of them had the foresight to hide in the ventilation shafts and waited until he was under it. The plan worked and it flatten him like a pancake. As it was slashing away at him, Rewind converted into tank mode and shook the beast off.

He rotated his turret and opened fire on it. It was blown to pieces by the blast, all of them vaporizing before they hit the floor. Odd, his cannons' settings weren't set that high. Were these energy-based lifeforms? More of the pack rushed towards him while he pondering this and he fired another round at them. This time the shot also tore a hole in the ship's hull. Rewind made a dash for it and drove out.

First Aid was startled by the explosion and turned to see Rewind converting from tank mode into his bipedal one.

"What in the name of the-" The medic began before the Minicon interrupted him.

"Just transform and roll the hell outta here!" He exclaimed.

The Protectobot narrowed his optics behind his visor, but they shot wide open when he saw black-and-white creatures crawl out of the vessel. He converted into vehicle mode and allowed his tiny friend to hop on before kicking in his boosters. One of the native beasts attempted to leap onto his roof, but Rewind's blasts disrupted its trajectory. It ended up impaling itself on a branch and disintegrating like the rest of its kin.

"What in blazes did you find back there?" Said the Bulk.

"A little more information than I thought," Rewind said in an unsettled tone. "And maybe an Insecticon's nest."

Another explosion caught their attention, though this one was nowhere near them. It seemed to be from the cliff up ahead. Based on the colors and scale, it must've been from Cybertronian weaponry. Rewind brought up telescopic vision, but he couldn't make out much. He could see what appeared to be a Bulk fighting more creatures.

"Friend or foe?" First Aid inquired.

"Only one way to find out," replied Rewind.

The Protectobot kicked in his afterboosters again, leaving a trail of dust clouds in his wake. If any of them bothered to look at the pier, they would've spotted a humanoid shape at the nearby docks. And said shape decided to make its way towards the ruins as well.

* * *

 **Moments ago at the ruins of Beacon**

Beacon. Once it was a symbol of pride and hope. Something to look up to in these times of peace. Now it sits in ruin, festering with the very horrors its students were trained to fight against. These days, only those looking for closure or sport would dare tread here. One individual, however, didn't exactly come for either.

A sky-blue bot- with hints of red and black- wandered through the campus. His crimson optics scanned any device he could find in the place. The footage he collected from the dead's personal belongings was… disturbing. A blond-haired native suddenly attacking her opponent at the arena. An android seemingly ripped apart by invisible forces. The arena being flooded with the black-and-white beasts surrounding him now. A group of individuals bearing armor colored and modeled after the monsters.

And all the death and suffering. Families destroyed (in the literal sense), limbs flying everywhere. So many flames extinguished and for what? He did not know. That woman's transmission still lingered on in the data pads and he was able to piece it back together. Her words brought more questions than answers. But perhaps the tower ahead could give him some clues.

Hotspot gazed upon the monument before him. Littered around him was debris and the wreckage of a foreign nation's machines. He made sure to scan some of them for distribution. His friends could be in need of a disguise. But right now knowledge would be of greater use to them. And he intended on collecting it.

The Protectobot climbed up the ruined CCTS tower until he found one of the servers. Rays of blue light flared from his optics and all over the room. Recordings of calls to and from the room, the rosters of the various student teams and staff. Digital copies of textbooks and footage of decades of practice matches. There were even traces of a virus within their systems. Probably how the woman was able to hack into everything when scrap hit the fan.

Next stop was the headmaster's office. After few minutes of climbing, he managed to reach his destination. To his disappointment, it was all reduced to slag. Scans indicated much of it was melted months ago. If anything survived, it may have been picked off by scavengers. Yet he also detected strange energy signatures within the local vicinity. It didn't match with the "Dust" signatures he sampled in the campus. Could it be related to the radiation from the planet's moon?

He climbed into the remains of the room and beheld its remaining occupant. There, trapped in a state of petrification, was dragon-like entity. A brief look into the school's databanks revealed it to be a "Wyvern", a rare breed of the "Creatures of Grimm." He recalled security footage of it flying over the battlefield. He assumed that this was its handiwork.

The Autobot sat the edge of the room. Though Beacon had suffered a great blow to its students and staff, the city of Vale still stood. At least the facility was able to continue its primary function till the end. It was a breathtaking view from here. A view that the founders of this school strove to protect. Only question now was what became of the survivors.

His train of thought was interrupted by a screech. Before he could turn his head, something slammed into him and carried him off the building. When he was able to twist his head around, he found himself being dragged by a vulture-like Grimm. Nevermore, the textbooks called it.

Well he was about to make that name mean something. Converting both his arms into Pathblasters, he fired at the eyes and utterly obliterate them. The blinded beast released its grip on him and he fell to the earth below. Groaning as he rose back onto his feet, he found himself surrounded by the other Grimm.

Smaller versions of the Nevermore flew straight at him and fired their feathers at him. Hotspot activated his Reflective Shield just in time, sending some of them back at their owners. The rest managed to nick his armor but none of them stuck. Some wolf-like creatures- Beowolves, he believed they were called- leapt at him. He sidestepped the group attack, grabbing one of them and crushing it in his servo.

An elephant-shaped specimen- a Goliath- rammed into him and managed to leave a scar on his torso. The Protectobot growled and converted into his Cybertronian truck-mode. He fired missiles at the beast and others surrounding them. The whole campus quaked as one rocket after another collided with it and its occupants. Another Goliath charged at him, but he had another trick up his sleeve. Kicking into his nitro-boosters, he veered to its left and rammed into the giant's side. It fell a domino and struggled to regain its footing.

While it was down, the Autobot began firing missiles at its exposed underbelly. He didn't take the rest of its pack into account. One more knocked him into the air with its tusks. A more quadrupedal flyer- a Griffin- grabbed the bot and threw him before he could transform. He ended up crashing through one of the dorm buildings and was forced into Protoform mode by all the impacts. The Beowolf pack that sprang at him earlier used the opportunity to try again. This time they managed to successfully dogpile him and began slashing away.

For every monster that he swatted off, two more took its place. The combined efforts of the beasts was already chipping away at his armor. If he didn't push them back they could draw out his Energon. Reactivating his Reflective Shield, their slashes began bouncing back at them. He used the opportunity to shake them off and pulled out his Scrapmaker. He mowed down the pack and redirected his aim at the Grimm that threw him. The Griffin came down in pieces and the swarm receded.

He was about to take in a sigh of relief before the ground began shaking. He only managed to walk back a few steps before something burst through the earth and wrapped itself around him. Though his legs were initially free, two black-and-white shapes rolled into them and toppled him over. He tired to rise back onto his feet. The two heads of the abomination- King Taijitu his sources called it- stared down at the Autobot. It was squeezing hard enough to restrain him, but not enough for the Shield to react and reflect any damage. Seems as though it had figured him out. Once the device wore off, both heads reeled back and prepared to lunge at him.

Except that something rammed straight into the white head first. The thing hissed in pain as an arm pulled out of its eye socket, a black mist leaking from the wound. The other head tried to snap at the interloper, but it couldn't reach them. They exploited this and continued their assault on the first head. The remaining one finally unraveled itself enough to reach the rescuer.

This gave Hotspot an opening to slip an arm free and grab the ebony head by the neck. He squeezed at it in the hopes of choking it into unconsciousness, but it only registered pain. It must not breathe gases like most organics would. Then again, its texture indicated that it wasn't "truly" organic either. The shape finished stabbing away at the first head and leapt onto the second one. Or rather, _through_ it.

The beast let out one last cry before it disintegrated, freeing the Autobot. He finally managed to get a good look at his savior. It was a fair-skinned native with red hair and seafoam green eyes. She wore a black double-breasted leather jacket and a white tanktop with blue markings under it. A pair of blue pants and black sandals were the finishing touches to her attire.

What intrigued him was her armor and weapons. A blue chest plating wrapped itself around her torso and he could see something on the back of it. It appeared to be a thruster or jetpack of some kind. Two gauntlets of the same color were enveloping her lower arms, each having a blade popping out of them. One of them had a lilypad-like marking on it, the same color as her eyes.

She landed on the concrete road and hacked away at the Grimm. Beowolves would lose their kneecaps and she'd butcher the upper half before it hit the ground. She proppled herself with the boosters on her back and spun around like atop. As she was slashing away at the monsters, she failed to see a Griffin descending upon her. By the time she spotted it, it had already landed on her.

Yet neither didn't expect a large metal hand to grab the creature and throw it at one of its brethren. The Autobot flashed a quick thumbs at her before more of its kin swooped down at him. As he was attempting to swat thema way with one hand, something launched from his back and landed in his free one. The object converted into a sword, glowing orange-red. He slashed away at the flyers and any ground-based beasts that tried to climb up him.

One of the Goliaths charged at him, but he was prepared this time. Sidestepping the living ram, he gave his blade a twirl and swung down on its neck. The severed head crashed into some smaller Grimm before they all disintegrated. A rolling shape- Boarbatusk- attempted to topple him again, but he anticipated this and kicked the beast away.

A scream caught his audio receptors. He turned to see the girl ensnared in a Goliath's trunk, hacking away at it frankly while it squeezed away. Hot Spot charged at the Grimm and sliced off its limb, freeing her. He caught her with his free servo while the thing reeled back in pain. The Autobot transformed to vehicle mode and sped off with the human. After putting some distance between themselves and the Grimm, the bot converted to bipedal mode and sat the native on the ground.

Both of them listened as the horde stampeded towards their last location. Hit Spot poked his head out to see the the Beowolves sniffing about. They seemed to have given up on the search and scattered across the yard. Once they were out of earshot, he let out a sigh of relief and turned towards the female.

"Mighty brave of you to come here," The Protectobot said to her as he knelt down. "Weren't for you, I'd be slag."

The girl's tilted head indicated an error on his part. He facepalmed as he realized that he been speaking in his native tongue. Quickly analyzing the documents and files he scanned, he converted his language to this planet's own.

"Testing one two three…" He said out loud. "Testing one two three. Do you read me native lifeform?"

The young lass could barely keep herself from laughing. "I hear ya, tinman," She replied. "You gonna come out of that suit and introduce yourself?"

The bot let out a soft- if slightly nervous- chuckle of his own. "Ma'am," He said politely. "This ain't no suit. I'm the real thing."

The girl's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "Uh huh. And I'm a unicorn Faunus," She said sarcastically. "You're not fooling me, Atlesian soldier boy. Just what are you doing here anyway?"

"I was just about the ask the same question, human," Retorted Hot Spot. "And I'm not from Atlas."

The Autobot was about to answer her when an explosion rocked the area. The mech instinctively moved to shield her from any potential debris or other threats, but nothing fell. Both of them poked their heads out to see a large white shape and a smaller -black-and-white one surrounded by Grimm. He instantly recognized them.

"Friends of yours?" Said the teen.

Hot Spot nodded grimly. "Got any steam left in your tank?" He asked.

The redhead's grin was the only answer he needed. He transformed to vehicle mode and rolled back onto the battlefield. His newfound ally followed suit by activating her thrusters. Her day just got a lot more interesting.

* * *

 **6 hours after arrival...**

Alarms. Flashing lights. Darkness. These were all the things Groove could make out when he first came back online. As his vision cleared he could make out the ceiling of the shuttle. All around him his fellow passengers were stirring to life. Prowl, Trailbreaker, Powerglide, Whirl-

Wait. Where is Whirl?

An annoyed groan answered his question. He glanced around to see the the cyclopan's head behind him. Well, _under_ him to be exact.

"Get. Off. My. F-"

"Sweet Solus Prime!" Blurted out Groove as he bounced off the cyclops's faceplate.

Whirl rubbed his cranium with an annoyed look in his optic. He looked to his side to see nothing but grey clouds and snow beyond his window.

"On the bright side," The Protectobot said. "We're all still functional."

"And on the down side, our coolants could freeze and burst out of our pipes out there," Whirl said.

Prowl rubbed his crest as he shuffled through screens on his monitor.

"We have internal heaters for that sort of stuff, you know," he noted. "And besides, I'm picking energy readings nearby. Heat and light among them."

"Natural occurring or artificial?" Asked Trailbreaker.

Prowl rubbed his chin as more readings popped up. "Likely the latter," He deduced. "Picking up smog and radio signals too. Neither of them match up with anything from Cybertron."

A light-gray bot with red and black highlights -Streetwise- looked at the group with his hopeful blue visor. "Hold up, are you saying there's intelligent life here?"

Prowl nodded. "And likely an advanced one at that. Which means potential resources and disguises for us."

He pushed a button on the console. "Sending the Sky Spy to the source. Hopefully the storm can cover its tracks."

As the words left his mouth, an orange satellite-like object flew off of the ship's roof. lt flew into the snowy drifts, relying on its motion and thermal sensors for guidance. After several minutes of flying through the pearl-white mists, the drone finally came along an outpost of some form. Based on the presence of turrets and barracks, it appeared to be a military base.

The probe got to work on scanning the vehicles. One of the first it spotted appeared to be motorcycle of some form. Scans indicated that it possessed a hovercraft-mode as well. Next it entered a hanger and discovered several aircraft. Most of them were lightweight, transport fighters. There were also a number of pick-up trucks as well. It was heading out of the hanger when its audio receptors picked up something.

Gunfire. Yelling. Roaring. Screaming. There was a battle.

It hide behind some crates and began recording. There were small organic beings-clad in snow-white armor- firing upon ebony creatures. The beasts possessed bone-like protrusions and armor, clashing away at the combatants. Some of the natives were crushed like insects by the monsters. Others were flung into wind or storm, never to be seen again. A screech caught the drone's attention and it averted iits gaze towards the skies. A single black blur was all it saw before it joined the fallen.

The Autobots starred at the static in the screen. "Well," Whirl said. "Guess this planet ain't so boring after all."

Prowl's optic rims narrowed. "Everyone line up before the CR chamber. We'll need to reformat ourselves if we hope to survive out there."

Everyone lined up before the silver cylindrical structure. Trailbreaker was the first to enter the thing, to the outrage of Whirl. As the blue bot banged on the door and shouted at its occupant, Groove moved towards Streetwise. He kept glancing back the monitor as he approached him. The Bulk could guess what was disturbing him.

The larger bot knelt down to the smaller one's level. "You're thinking about the natives, aren't you?"

Groove nodded. As much as he hated fighting, he hated standing by and letting others come to harm even more. Streetwise sympathized with him on the latter detail. It was something all Protectobots had something in common. Even Graze- for all his bloodlust- couldn't resist the urges.

"Can't just leave them at the mercy of… whatever those things were," The little one said. "Just ain't right."

The car-robot nodded in agreement. "But charging in without a new disguise is bound to put a target on our heads," He noted.

The motorcycler flashed a cocky smile. "But when has that ever stopped us?"

A soft hiss cough brought their attention back to the CR chamber. Trailbreaker strode out of it and stretched his arms. Most of his Cybertronian kibble was replaced with a more terrean style. No sooner when he stepped foot that Whirl grabbed and flung him to the side. Now it was the ground-based bot's turn to swear and curse at the chamber's occupant. Prowl simply sighed and shook his head in disappointment while the Protectobots struggled to stifle their laughter. Now was the best time to sneak out.

The two crept towards the airdock and opened it up. The howling winds swept into the ship's interior and chilled its passengers to the bone. Trailbreaker instantly noted the sudden drop in temperature and the duo could hear his comments from their position. It won't be long before Prowl caught on. They converted to vehicle to mode and drove off into the snowstorm. They could briefly hear their captain curse and call out to them before mother nature drowned it out.

* * *

 **The flatlands of Anima, several minutes after crash landing...**

Out in the grasslands to the east, there was a bandit camp. Crude walls of wood surrounded the site. Gaurds patrolled outside of them, careful not to step on any of the landmines they set up. Things were rather routine until meteorites crashed into their backyard.

From a tower at the center of the base watched a hulking man. His armor was modeled after Grimm, jet-black with white protrusions useful for striking fear into his enemies, but not so much for the real deal. Lime-green eyes burned behind the binoculars as he observed the craters beyond. One of their "chariots"- an armored double-cab 4x4 pickup- was also at the site, with its turret aim at the crash site.

Suddenly steam erupted from the holes. He could make out his men opening fire on something moving in the mist. A colossal shape fired emerald beams at his truck and bathed it in a similar light. He could hear gears, pistons, and other mechanical sounds as the shadow changed form. To his surprise, a perfect replica- albeit in a different colorscheme- charged forth and rammed into the original article.

The men yelped in shock as the truck was toppled over. The copycat then transformed into a humanoid form and converted its arm into an axe. He could make out a grey-and-cyan paint job, with tinted blood-red windows. He could see its yellow faceplate grinning at the site of his fellow marauders as it picked his ride up. Its crimson eyes turned to the leader of the pack and its grin grew. He barely had time to jump out of the watchtower as his own car fly right into it.

His bodyguards opened fire on the giant as it approached them, but they bounced off of a light-blue field surrounding its body. Purple drones hopped out of the other craters and joined up with their boss. Their arms converted into blasters and gunned down any man that challenged them. All were reduced to charred bones.

The raider fired his pistol at the pack leader, but the bullets bounced off of his shield. The mech smirked and swatted it out of his hand and grabbed him. The robot laughed as the human struggled to break free.

"You got guts," Said the bot as he brought the organic to his yellow face. "I like that. It'd be a shame for me to spill 'em."

The mech moved him back from his gaze to give him some breathing room. "But I'm a generous 'Con and would be more than happy to make a bargain. You tell me everything about this place, and I'll let ya live to fight another day. What do you say?"

The bandit chuckled. "Can't give you any answers unless you give me the question." He said.

One of the purple bots raised his blaster at the man's head, but the commander raised his free hand. The trooper lowered his gun in disappointment.

"Guts _and_ spunk," The giant said. "I think we're gonna get along just fine. Now my first question; Where can we get a decent recharge?"

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Sorry if I'm not in a talkative mood. Kinda have a bit of cold as I type this. Give me a moment (or a few hours) to gather me thoughts.**

 **The scene in the forest went through three different versions. First one was with Rewind, Second was First Aid, the current and final version using both. First Aid's version had him using his Medibots from Earth Wars to scout the ship instead of Rewind.**

 **Barricade uses his design from the canceled** _ **Transformers: Universe**_ **game, while Frenzy leans more towards the Collector's Club figure that came with their version of Barricade.**

 **Flatline is based on his IDW namesakes (Movieline and G1) rather than the playable character in the** _ **Universe**_ **online game.**

 **I personally view Hot Spot as being a retool of Onslaught's** _ **Fall of Cybertron**_ **design since the latter is a retool of the former in the** _ **Combiner Wars**_ **toyline. His reflective shield comes from his Earth Wars portrayal. Whether or not he's an Outlier is up for debate.**

 **And some of you might also be wondering about the lass he encounters. She's one for the OCs I've been working on for this fanfic. Saving her name (and more info about her weapon. Yes, it's technically one whole thing) for next chapter. Only hint I'm leaving is that it has something to do with water (or bodies of it).**

 **No sneakpeeks here because many of the scenes in the last one have been pushed back to next chapter. Didn't want to make this one bloated.**

 **Now if you excuse me, I going to take some meds and a nap. Hope y'all have a good day.**


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Adrift**

 _ **3 hours after arrival onto Remnant, wastes of Solitas**_

Who doesn't hate snowstorms? They blind you, cover everything they touch in the shivering white. Oh, and they also have a tendency to freeze everything caught in them. Only the desperate or foolish would think about treading through such conditions. Right now, though, a group of certain mechs were part of the former group.

Swindle growled under his breath as he and his squad marched through the drifts. It's already been a few cycles since touchdown and they haven't found any shelter upon arrival. Incinerator- a broad and brutish flier with gray armor- had to use his aptly-named weapons just to keep the group's internal fluids from freezing and bursting out of their pipes. Everyone was carrying a Seeker on their back, each one still trapped in Stasislock.

Swindle had to carry an extra burden in the form of a Minicon. This one was cast in contrasting shades of gray, with hints of olive green. The monocle-like sensor over his right optic and a missile launcher on his back identified him as Thunder, Thrust's personal minion. He was giggling in that "bleep-speech" that many of his kind were fond of using. He was pointing a finger at a tan-and-burgundy 'Con of the Bruiser bodytype. That was Demolisher, and he had the misfortune of being charged with Thrust's safety.

Swindle resisted the urge to join in on the laughter as the tank grumbled under his breath. He always loved watching the two of them bicker and clash with one another. But unless someone found a sanctuary from the storm, he wasn't going to function any longer to savor it. One of the Vehicons shouted something barely audible and pointed towards a grey shape up ahead. A scout disappeared into it for a few seconds before popping back out. The thumbs-up was the confirmation he needed.

As they stepped closer he could make out a cave ahead of him. To his delight was large enough for all of them to enter in robot mode. Incinerator gathered some rocks and planted some debris-no doubt fragments of the _Arclight_ \- into the center of the makeshift pit. He ignited his flamethrowers and watched as the rubbish burned. Everyone began setting their paralyzed comrades to the side and sat around the bonfire. Thunder leaped off of Swindle's shoulder and sat beside his comatose partner.

The Cons' sat in silence for a few minutes. Demolishor was the first to break it. "So… has anyone heard from the _Leviathan_ yet?" He asked awkwardly.

Swindle shook his head. "Been trying to reach 'em for the last couple of cycles. Nothing but static. Either the explosion knocked its transmitters offline, or nobody's bothered to pick up the phone."

Incinerator scoffed. "Did you forget about the fires up there?" He said. "Even if the ship did survive planetfall, the guts would've been reduced to molten slag by now. And trust me, I know slag."

A Vehicon- servant class judging by his lighter paint job and dual optical bands- stood up from his seat. "Unlikely," He said. "The _Leviathan_ would've had measures to contain the fires. Someone- or at least some vital part of the ship- would've survived."

Incinerator growled impatiently. "Then why haven't we heard anything from them?" He asked in an irritated voice.

"I was thinking the same thing," said a new voice.

Every Decepticon jumped out of their seats to see Thrust slowly transforming to bipedal mode. He stumbled a couple of times as he rose back onto his feet, but he found a stalagmite to steady himself on in both cases. His Minicon chirped in excitement as he regained balance and cleared his vocal processor.

"How long were you online?" Demolishor asked.

"Oh, for the past few minutes," He said. "I wasn't able to speak or transform up until now."

He crossed his arms behind his back in a professional manner. "While I was modelocked, I too was listening for any transmission from the Leviathan. But I wasn't narrow-minded enough to overlook other things."

He activated a holographic projection of a keyboard, typing up a command. Another construct appeared, forming the planet. A continent split off from the main body as it faded away. Ridges and cuts began to bleed into existence, presumably forming mountains and other geological features. A red dot appeared on the map, representing the party themselves.

"You probably haven't been able to see them from orbit or through the storm, but this region is rather mountainous," Thrust said. "Such regions can act as obstacles for radio transmissions. Ours could potentially be boxed in right now. But that's something far more interesting nearby."

A number of blue dots appeared on the map while a column appeared on its right edge. It divided itself into several rectangles and spawning moving waves within them. Swindle seemed to be narrowing his optics behind his visor as he leaned forward.

"Are those… radio waves?" The Combaticon inquired.

The Seeker nodded. "Evidence of intelligent lifeforms. The waves are moving back and forth between these points. I believe that these are outposts of some form. I haven't fully translated their native language, but the scraps were provided some interesting implications."

Thrust tapped a button on his keyboard and the rectangles lit up like crazy. Static and voice emerged from the projection.

" _ **Bzztzbz**_ _-freezing my ass off while Commander's_ _ **bzztzbzt**_ _"_

 _"Been away from_ _ **bbbzzztt**_ _too long. Getting_ _ **BZZT**_ _-sick."_

" _ **Bzzt**_ _see that? Sky lit_ _ **bzzt**_ _like a_ _ **bzzt**_ _cracker!"_

" _Pieramater clear. Returning_ _ **bzzt**_ _base."_

 _"_ _ **Bzzt**_ _just left thermo-_ _ **bzzzt**_ _and entered meso_ _ **bzzt**_ _."_

" _Would love to shove that damn grin of his up his_ _ **bzzt**_ _."_

" _Meteorites making plant_ _ **bzzt**_ _now._ _ **Bzzt**_ _largest one still gliding."_

Demolisher perked his head up. "Meteorites? Like escape pods?"

Thrust nodded. "And the _Leviathan_. The natives are already tracking their trajectory as they make planetfall. Perhaps they're following the ship's as well."

Incinerator slammed his oversized propeller-claws together. "Then let's pay those creatures a visit," He suggested with a hint of bloodlust.

Thrust shook his head. "We're not in any position to pick fights," He noted. "It would be best if we took on a more subtle approach. Thunder and I both possess cloaking fields, so we shouldn't have trouble infiltrating one of the outposts. The rest of you remain here until I give the word. I'd rather use force as a last resort."

Thrust shifted to jetmode and opened up his cockpit, allowing Thunder to hop inside. The remaining Cons rumbled in disappointment as the duo rocketed out of the cave. This was going to be a boring day, wasn't it?

* * *

 _ **30 Minutes after arrival…**_

Rewind was blasting away in tank mode while First Aid was slicing and dicing in mech form. The latter swung his axe around as the smaller beasts attempted to dogpile on either bot. His Minicon friend was focusing on the airborne menaces, trying to knock them out of the sky. The Bulk would occasionally use his Path Blaster to blow up any natives that got too close to him. Overall they were handling the situation quite well. But they needed to find their anonymous friend soon before their Energon was depleted.

Their person of interest revealed himself after ramming into a swarm of Grimm. Hot Spot converted into botmode and drew out his sword. He carved his way through the hordes as he approached the medic, grabbing a Beowolf that lunged at him and threw it at one of its kind. The doctor was rather pleased to see him. His posture turned into one of concern as soon as his optics saw the gash on his leader's chestplate. He instinctively summoned his Energon repair ray and healed the wound away.

"Still charging cranium-first into battle, commander?" He inquired wittingly.

The taller bot gave off a confident chuckle. "It's where I belong pal," he replied with a smirk. His expression turned more serious afterward, however. "Did you come across any other Autobots?" He asked.

The medic pointed at Rewind, still acting as a makeshift anti-aircraft. "Happened to be with me when the _Arclight_ went to the Pits," The Protectobot noted. "Apart from him, no. Saw a lightshow from the local forest and decided to investigate. Was anyone else with you?"

Hot Sot was shaking his head when a blue blur sped past the two. To the medic's astonishment was an organic female, hacking away at the monsters with arm-mounted blades. She bounced from one corner of the battlefield to the other with what appeared to be a jetpack. His commanding officer let a chuckle escape from his vocalizer.

"I did manage to find an ally for the moment," He said. "That reminds me, found some data for you and the dataslug."

He summoned a holographic keypad and typed something into it. A flood of data made its way into the chief medical officer's brain module and briefly blinded him. Once his sight returned, he had a sizeable treasure trove of information. He immediately transmitted it to Rewind as well, though he failed to account for his current mode. The Minicon was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data and found himself practically drowning in it.

"Gah!" Cried out the recordibot. "Too much information! _Too much information_!"

His cannons were suddenly flying about, firing in all directions. One blast was right at his feet- er, _treads_ \- and the shockwave sent him soaring over the battlefield. He converted to botmode midair and fell faceplate-first into the earth. As he whipped the dirt off of his visor, his optics finally came back online…

...and found himself at the mercy of one of the wolves. A blade pierced through the back of its neck and out of its mouth before it could strike him. The whole head came flying off after another sword sliced it off. Both belonged to the female, smiling at her handiwork. His audio receptors translated her world's tongue into his own.

"Geez, and I thought the Knights had bad aim," She said with a laugh.

The mech growled as he rose back onto his feet. "Hey, try focusing while a literal info dump clogs up your processor," he retorted.

A roar caught their attention. The two of them saw a spiked bear-like creature charging towards them, leaping into the air and dead set on body slamming into them. The girl grabbed the robot by the servo and blasted off with him. The entity- an Ursa Major according to a recent entry in the Minicon's databanks- created a massive crater upon impact and shook the surrounding ground.

The girl dropped Rewind below and flew straight towards the Grimm. She landed on its back and attempted to hack away at its neck, but it was too far for her blades to reach. It simply shook her off and attempted to squish her with its paw. She rolled just in time to dodge it and retaliated with several slashes. All they seemed to do was annoy it. A bolt of blue energy zoomed past her and into the Creature's torso. Rewind had already converted back to vehicle mode and was drawing its attention towards him.

The Usra Major stood on its hind legs and walked out of the crater. It blocked the Autobot's shots with its front ones and slammed them back down. The ground exploded into a thousand pieces and sent both humanoids flying into the air. First Aid happened to spot them while dealing with a swarm of Grimm and came to their rescue. He leaped into the air and caught them in his arms, rolling as he hit the earth. He was rewarded with a thumbs up from the Minicon and grumbling under the female's breath.

The moment was ruined when the Usra managed to knock the Bulk onto the ground. The smaller warriors rolled into another horde and found themselves pinned down. First Aid attempted to rise, but the Ursa Major cut through his overshield and into his knee-joint. The Autobot let out a cry of pain as he fell back down and the beast climbed onto his back. The giant attempted to grab the monster, but it managed to evade his reach.

He felt it climb up to the back of his neck, and instantly realized it was up to. Yet it didn't slash at it as it did with his leg. If anything, he felt it being pulled off of him like a Scraplet. He turned to see it floating in the air, coated in purple energy. The next thing he knew, it was flung into the crowd that was clawing at Rewind and the native. The fragments of pavement it created earlier were drawn together by the same energy and crudely fused into a giant sword.

The blade went to work on cutting down the common raffle. Beowolves, Creeps, Boarbatusk, and even a couple of King Taijitu. The human and Minicon were keeping their distance as it swung around madly. Suddenly it straightened itself up and stood motionless. It exploded into several fragments and scattered itself across the battlefield. The Ursa Major that troubled them earlier had its skull impaled by a shard and dropped to the ground, black vapors escaping from its corpse.

An exhausted sigh caught the mechs' attention and they turned to see a blonde middle-aged woman. She possessed light-green eyes and a crop in her hand. Her attire- a white top and pencil skirt- suggested a professional demeanor and personality. She huffed as she rose back onto her feet, the violet energy crackling around her body. Her eyes fell upon the girl and narrowed instantly. The younger specimen reacted similarly.

"Ms. Marinus," The woman said.

" _Noelani_ ," The girl corrected with a growl. "It's Noelani."

"Still the same temperamental girl either way," The older one noted. She turned her gaze towards the mechs, trying to mask her surprise.

"I don't recall Ironwood commissioning for more models of Paladins," She said as she walked towards them. "Especially ones so… humanoid and colorful. Who are you?"

Rewind tapped his fingers nervously. He and First Aid turned towards Hot Spot as he knelt before the woman.

"You would not believe us if we told you, ma'am," He said politely.

The blonde one chuckled, crossing her arms. "I've seen things that made me question my sanity more times than I can count," She replied. "Nothing can really surprise me these days. I take that the meteorites are your doing?"

The Autobot rubbed the back of his neck. "Something like that," he confessed. "The three of us are new 'round here, miss…"

"Goodwitch," The woman said. "Glynda Goodwitch."

The mech nodded. "Name's Hot Spot," He said as he pointed a thumb at himself. "These are Rewind and First Aid."

Glynda raised an eyebrow at the names. "Aliases, I presume?" She inquired.

"More like rough translations," Rewind piped up. "Our people's tongue isn't something that can be mimicked by yours."

"That, I can attest to," Noelani noted. She shook her head immediately afterward. "Wait, you're saying that yawl are aliens!?" She said.

The giant's optics curved into something best described as 'sheepish'. "I did try to tell you," He noted. "But then again we're in the middle of a battlefield right now."

A dozen roars caught their attention. More Grimm were swarming towards them.

"Then it's time for a tactical retreat," Glynda suggested.

First Aid raised a hand. "What about the city's natives?" He noted. "The majority of them might not react kindly to giants like us."

Glynda frowned. Those two were right. If the VNN or the rest of the media were to see them-

Hot Spot suddenly fell to the ground and spasmed. His entire body began to contract and compress into what could be best described as a cyberpunk battering ram. She could make out hoses and a ladder (or crane. It was hard to tell) popping up on the "roof" of this form.

"How much Energon you got?" He asked the medic.

"About three-fourths of a tank," The medic noted. "You?"

"Just one," The commander confessed. "We're gonna have to reformat ourselves and change altmodes out here."

First Aid stared at him in disbelief, sputtering. "Butbut-but that would eat away at your reserves in a matter of nano-cycles," He objected. "I've got plenty to spare but you… you're likely to burn yourself out to single digits. Hell, maybe even go into Statislock!"

"Then one of our friends here will just have to drive me until you get me a pick-me-up," His leader said. "Rewind, scan any locals I pass by while you're riding. Build up a holographic disguise for yourself."

Rewind let out a short laugh. "Already ahead of ya," He said.

Rewind retreated into his databanks and dug through the photos he downloaded from the crash site. In nanoseconds, he ran through hundreds of pictures of the dead and their loved ones. In the real world, cyan light spawned and clung onto his exo-structure. The light died out after a few seconds and the robot was nowhere to be found. In his place was a gray-haired man with steel-blue eyes and a paramedic's uniform.

First Aid finally converted to vehicle mode and joined in with Hot Spot on the formatting. Their bodies stretched and twisted, flakes falling off of their chassis to be carried away by the winds. Their cybertronian forms gave way to terran designs, resembling a Rosenbauer Panther 6x6 and an ALS ambulance vehicle. The Energon lights on Hot Spots body began to flicker, while First Aids' still gleamed like the stars.

Rewind opened one of the commander's doors and slipped into the driver's seat. Glynda took the opposite door and sat beside him. He was staring at the steering wheel and other controls with a confused look on his face.

"Uh, you got a manual for these types of vehicles?" He asked her awkwardly.

Her response was a sigh as she switched places with him. She fiddled around with the controls to see how they responded. To her amazement, the larger mech operated like a regular firetruck. Noelani simple stared at both cars in awe. An "ahem" from First Aid finally broke her out of her trance. The girl reluctantly hopped aboard and the Autobot's engine roared to life.

Glynda drove the commander off of the battlefield, the medic and his passenger following suit. Some Grimm gave chase, but most of them ate the mechs' dust. The rest didn't bother to follow them. Why waste energy on a tiny group of prey? After all, they weren't out of the woods yet…

* * *

 _ **Over 3 hours after arrival onto Remnant, wastes of Solitas**_

In the frozen wastes of Solitas was an Atlesian outpost. Though its human (and Faunus) population was rather small, its actual size was not the case. It possessed at least two hangers for their ground forces and three for their aircraft. The majority of their security forces were automated, with Knight-drones patrolling the grounds. The few organic lifeforms present were staying indoors.

The cold winds of their home was something of a double-edged blade. On the one hand, the average citizen would freeze to death out there. On the other hand, so would most Grimm. Those that endured the weather were something to be feared, however. This outpost and several others were built to ensure that none of such horrors made their way to the Kingdom. To their friends and families.

Of all the soldiers assigned to Outpost Alizarin, none hated it more than Tango Rubesco. He was a fair-skinned lad with shoulder-length pink hair and a lean build. His uniform was elegant, consisting of white and varying shades of pink. His emerald green eyes were facing the floor as he grumbled and muttered through the hall.

He stopped by a window and gazed through it. All he could see were snowbanks and grey clouds. There was nothing there at all. No bars, no ballrooms, no concerts, no festivals, no museums… just nothing. Why was he stationed here anyway? He's more effective as a spy than a soldier.

He sighed. While Special Operatives were technically Huntsmen, he wasn't exactly built for Grimm attacks. He was better suited for facing humanoid opponents. Crimelords, extremists, and other evildoers. But Grimm… they don't operate like humans or Faunus. They know nothing about greed or hatred. They just tear down the world without a second thought, almost as if they were programmed for it. That, in his mind, makes them scarier than even the most vile people on the planet.

He resumed his walk and made his way to the communications center. Waiting for him was a red-haired man with broad shoulders, a light goatee, and purple eyes. His buzzcut hair and collection of badges indicated that he was head of operations in Alizarin. This was his commanding officer, Barney Read.

"Sargent," Rubesco saluted.

His commander returned the favor. "Specialist," He replied. "I need your input on something."

"It doesn't have to do with this place's drab decor, does it?" Joked Rubesco.

A slight smile crept onto the Sargent's face. "Not quite," He said.

He typed into his console and brought up a holographic map of Solitas. Typing in another sequence brought up a number of different icons and charts. Tango had already seen this set up a hundred times. All of the radio towers used by Atlas, Mantle, their bases, towns, villages-

Wait… there was something different. He saw a new spot on the radar. Something massive. Something _screaming_ if the charts are of any indication.

"What in blazes…" Tango said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Popped up about the same time as that meteor shower," The Sargent noted. "Lotta fingers pointing at the White Fang, but it doesn't match up with any of their channels. That, and uh…"

He pressed a button and their radio speakers started to play some strange sounds. It seemed to be following a rhythm or pattern, replaying the same sounds over and over again. It took him a minute to release that it was a voice. Someone was trying to send a message out.

"You're the resident spy. You recognize this sort of language?"

Said spy shook his head. "Never," He confessed.

"It's not the only one either," the elder said.

He pressed a couple more buttons. Sure enough, two more strange tongues were being projected as well.

"These channels are more difficult to pinpoint," He said. "Not as loud as the first one. Probably someone trying to keep a low profile."

"And you want me to lead an investigation into these, don't you?" Said Rubesco.

"An accurate assumption," The Sergeant said. "Were it not for this damn storm. Anyone flying in it would find themselves crashing into a mountain or Grimm. For now, do what you can to dig up those other two signals."

Rubesco sighed as he walked to a nearby console. So much for excitement. Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, however, someone was helping themselves to the supercomputers at the bottom level. A certain Minicon had already downloaded all of the information on them and was making his way towards a hanger. He had memorized the Knight's patrol routes, so avoiding them was easy. By the time he reached the door, he heard a soft thud outside and slid it open. An invisible figure stepped over him and closed the barrier back. His partner removed his cloak and knelt down before the little bot.

"I trust that you encountered little resistance," Thrust inquired. "What endo-skeletons have you discovered in their closets?"

His Minicon partner fired thin laser beams from his optics into Thrust's. The Bulk swam through and drink it like a warwahle in a matter of seconds. He let out a relaxed sigh as he returned to the real world.

"An excellent find my friend," He said. "Keep an optic out for guards while I scan their goods."

The Minicon chirped in acknowledgement as Thrust began examining the wares. Most of the vehicles here appeared to be aircraft, with the occasional ground transport here and there. Most of the aircraft appeared to use VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) engineering, though a few specimens seemed to rely on rotors or traditional propulsion. These would definitely come in handy for the Seekers and other flyers.

He turned to his partner. "Could you be a gentlebot and guide me to the next hanger?" He asked. "Preferably one with ground based vehicles? Not everyone has wings you know."

The Minicon nodded, running over to the hagner's door and peeking out of it. A thumbs up was the signal Thrust needed to slip out. Activating his cloak, the Decepticon tiptopped behind the smaller robot. It took a few minutes for them to stealthily reach the next shelter, but overall smooth sailing. The Seeker had to wait for Thunder to scout the hanger, though. He wasn't in the mood to tempt Lady Luck.

The door slid open and Thrust squeezed in. Now he found himself surrounded by all sorts of ground units. Tanks, dune buggies, SUVs, jeeps, snowmobiles, motorcycles, bulldozers, and so much more. The Combaticons would be having a field day here. Thunder had already helped himself with a missile truck and was running laps around the facility in it. Thrust meanwhile choose the F-35B Lightning II.

He was about to test out his new Alt-Mode when a loud crashing sound echoed through the building. He turned to Thunder, earning a shrug from the Minicon. The duo peeked outside to see smoke not too far from the base. Many of the natives were rushing over to investigate the incidendent. Thrust was rather tempted himself, though he was hesitant to follow through with his curiosity.

"That's odd," Thrust noted. "What could possibly-"

His train of thought was interrupted by another explosion. This time was right at the base itself, in the form of a fireball crashing onto the pavement. He could've sworn he heard someone screaming as it fell. Something rose from the smoke and limped his way out of it. It was Incinerator, covered in dents and clawmarks. He had some blade-like protrusions embedded into his chassis. He fell onto a knee as the remaining guards surrounded him.

Thrust growled. What did that bulkhead get himself into this time?

"Thunder," Thrust commanded. "Get to the communications center and disable their tower. We can't have them alert their leaders of our arrival."

Thunder chirped in acknowledgment and activated his cloaking field. Thrust did the same and they split off. While the Minicon was heading to the tower, Thrust was going to Incinerator's crash site. He tiptoed his way to the crowd and hid behind some cargo, decloaking himself. He activated his telescopic vision and zoomed in on the first crash site.

It turned out to be a fellow Seeker. Sadly they appeared to have exploded in jetmode when they crashed. But he did notice more of those blades on their remains. There some fresh samples scattered about as well. They appeared to be… wait, _feathers_?

Another scream caught his attention. This time it was from some natives, being burnt alive by Incinarrator's trademark weapons. He let out a sadistic- almost maniacal- laughter as he rained fire upon them. The organics fired bullets at him, but they just bounded off his armor plating. Someone fired an energy blast from from the rooftops above, nailing his left arm. He screamed as ice coated it and crept down the limb, giving off a particular glow and humming sound as it did so. What was that, some type of chemical weapon?

Thrust shook his head and converted his arm into a blaster. Right now he needed to save his fellow Decepticon, even if he was an idiot. A shot from the cannon collided with the native and sent them flying out of sight. Unfortunately this also draw the remaining forces' attention to him. They opened fire and he ducked back behind cover. Activating his cloak, he snuck around the fireteams and made his way towards Incinerator.

"What in the Fallen's name are you doing here?" He hissed.

The brute jumped at the sound of his commander's voice. He turned to see a gleaming outline against the background, only for Thrust to cast it aside. He converted his arms into flamethrowers and began melting the ice. After a few seconds, he bashed his weapons at it and the casing shattered, freeing his friend's arm.

"Turns out that cave belonged to someone else," Snarled Incinerator as he rubbed his arm. "They practically threw us out and called in some friends of theirs. You've probably seen what they did to the other flyboy."

"And who exactly is 'they'?" Thrust asked.

His answer in the form of a demonic screeching.

* * *

 ** _45 minutes after arrival…_**

The Residential District. Home to the majority of the city's population and one of the closest districts to Beacon. When the academy fell under siege from the White Fang and Grimm, it and the Commercial district were also caught in the crossfire. Some lost their jobs when their workplace was destroyed, others lost loved ones and friends to the chaos.

Even though the Grimm threat has been confined to Beacon, the scars they left still linger. And though many have launched efforts to rebuild what was lost, many more still fear another outbreak. Another attack. What point is there for reconstruction when the Grimm might just tear it all down again, some ask. Nobody had a simple answer, and it frustrates people to this day.

First Aid and the comatose chassis of Hot Spot already approaching the border between Beacon grounds and the Residential District. And unfortunately, so were another pack of Grimm. Boarbatusks, Nevermores, and Griffons were giving chase, while Beowolfs had already leapt onto the vehicles. Noelani was hacking away at any that got on First Aid while Rewind fired at the ones on Hot Spot. Suffice to say, it is a hectic ride.

The girl ducked back into the Autobot's cabin whenever one of the wolf-like beasts swung at her. She'd amputate their limbs when given the chance, sending them tumbling into the broken gravel. Rewind had it easy, blasting away without any issue. Any that managed to evade his shots or shrug them off were either bashed by the Minicon or thrown off by Glynda's driving. The Nevermores stayed at the backlines, letting the Griffins and Beowolves take point.

Their reasons for doing so became clear. Laser blasts and bullets flew past the heroes and towards the horde. Up ahead they could see a makeshift gate, with automated turrets firing shells and energy blasts at the monsters. There were also humanoid drones, around the size of the natives. Curiously, they sported scraps of white underneath their forest-green paintjob. A coat of arms also appeared to have been sprayed over each unit's torso.

Unfortunately for them, someone was waiting at the border. Parked just past the defenses was a grey van, with the letters " _VNN"_ on its side. A woman with silvery hair-whom Glynda recognized as Lisa Lavender- and a cameraman were just outside of the car, apparently trying to film the skirmish. The Huntress noticed some Nevermore leaving their positions, flying just beyond the range of the guns' radars. They seemed to be-

Glynda quickly grabbed Rewind and pulled him into her seat as she opened her side's door.

"Take the wheel," She ordered as she exited the cab.

Rewind barely had time to protest before she climbed onto the truck's ladder. Just as she feared, the raven-like Grimm was flinging their razor-sharp feathers at the civilians. She reached out with her Semblance and telekinetically grabbed the projectiles before they could hit their targets. The statislocked Autobot swerved right, though, and she lost focus. The feathers fell onto the van and it exploded, scattering the crew.

Many found themselves running further into the ruins and at the mercy of the Grimm. Two workers- Qobalt and Forest- were cornered by a pack of Beowolves. Before they could swing their claws at them, though, a blue blur crashed into them. Noelani bounced between the ruins, hacking away at the beasts as she did so. The end result before the civilians was something best described as "Grimm suchi", already fading into the winds.

She had already moved on to another pack before the men could thank her. She danced around the beowolves, hacking through their kneecaps. While the beasts while crawling around legless, she happily decapitated them one at a time. Once the pack was dealt with, she gestured towards the workers.

"Now's a good time to exit stage left," she hollowered, pointing at the gate.

The civilians made a mad dash towards the barrier while the girl bounced off to find another fight. Rewind was still struggling to drive Hot Spot's vehicle form, but he did his part by running over any Grimm he saw. Avoiding the civilians was a challenge, though, with them running about like headless robo-chickens. Glynda had already leapt off of the roof and was on the ground trying to gather as many workers as possible. Their panic only made things worse.

More and more of the swarm were entering the battlefield. The fliers above complicated things for the grounded warriors below, having to watch out for raining feathers and swooping claws. Lisa had the misfortune of being abducted by a Griffon and was screaming at the top of her lungs as it flew off. Glynda tried to reach out with her Semblance, but she was dogpiled by a group of Creepers.

Noelani saw this transpire and was already springing into action. She climbed up a ruined building and leapt from it, rocketing towards a Nevermore around her size. She jammed her blades into its back and held on for her dear life. The beast flew in an erratic fashion, trying to throw the human off. With a few twists from her armblades, she steered it towards the Griffon carrying Lisa.

The girl slashed at the Nevermore's eyes once they got close enough, blinding it as she leapt off of the bird. She rammed one of her blades into the Griffon, staggering and dazing it. She was about to slice off its arms with her free one when something entered the airspace. It was a Valecopter Dauphin, coated in white plating with blue and orange highlights. The craft fired its chainguns at the Griffon, forcing the beast to take evasive action. In its haste it dropped its hostage, sending her screaming to the ground below.

Noelani tore herself from the Grimm to dive after the damsel in distress. The copter unleashed a volley of gunfire and missiles upon the airborne menaces, seemingly without regard to the two humans in freefall. The student strafed and spun around to avoid the projectiles and any Creature still flying about. Those that did obstruct her found themselves cut in half by her blades. At last she reached Ms. Lavender and and grabbed her, using her jetpack to redirect their trajectory. Bouncing from one Grimm to another, they enveoutally reached the earth below. The girl rolled as she landed and sat the woman upright, dusting her off.

"How's that for a scoop?" Noelani asked with a smirk.

The woman was too busy trying to catch her breath to respond. A purple energy enveloped her and she found herself being carried over the barrier and into the city limits. Noelani turned to Glynda with the two men she saved earlier, First Aid not far from them. As the Protectobot rolled by, she saw more people in his cab. Most of them wounded. The helicopter from earlier was trying to divert the flying Grimms' attention away from the civilians. Rewind was trying to drive Hot Spot of the battlefield. She leapt onto the firetruck's side and slipped into the passenger seat, startling the Minicon.

She spotted Glynda speaking with Lavender, obviously irritated by the reporter's recklessness. She personally admitted that quality of hers, though she wished that she'd at least bring some bodyguards along. Bravado alone can only do so much. Everyone had left the battlefield by now, leaving the Grimm as the victors by default. She hated running from a fight, even if it was the only logical course of action.

The Headmistress's voice popped up from the radio's speaker. "I'm heading to the hospital with First Aid and his patients," She said. "You two head to the library and wait for me there. I'd like to have a word with your commanding officer when I return."

Rewind turned to the younger female with an awkward look on his holographic avatar's face. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to know the way there would you? Or how to operate this type of vehicle by any chance?"

Noelani facepalmed as she cursed her luck.

* * *

 ** _Nearly 4 hours after arrival…_**

Thunder was on his way to the communications center when an alarm went off. The hallway suddenly bathed in a crimson light and all of the workers scrambled out. They all were pushing and shoving each other aside, often knocking a friend or two down. Thunder had to squeeze into a corner just to avoid being caught up in the chaos. When the last fleshling left, he resumed his journey. What was that all about?

To his relief, the main room was vacant. All the terminals were still active and receiving information. There was a large screen at the other side of the room, but doubted that it was the central computer. There was a desk isolated from the rest, though. Thunder went to it and saw that it was running as well. Nobody bothered to shut them off before they left. Why?

He shook his head. They're probably just stupid, that's all. He went to work on the terminal and produced a cable from his backpack. He plugged it into the computer and began hacking into it. There was an outgoing transmission being sent to all stations, probably an alarm of some sort. Disabling it was child's play for him, though. The station was still tracking other communication towers, though, each sending their own message. Thunder placed on his chin, contemplating on his next course of action. He shrugged and began listening in on the other outposts.

Something stood out from the common rabble, though. Something familiar. Shuffling through the noise unearth something he wasn't expecting. There were two distress signals, both of them Cybertronian origin. One presumably for each faction. He brought up a map of the planet and began tracing them. One of them was nearby, within a mountain range about fifty kliks from here. The other was on another continent in the southern hemisphere.

" _Mayday, mayday!"_ Called out a voice. _"This is Huffer of the_ Arclight. _Our ship was destroyed in battle and now we're stranded on some uncharted planet. If anyone can hear this, please se-"_

Thunder switched over to the other signal. He knew where the first one was going. The second one concerned him more.

" _To all surviving crew members of the_ Levithvian," Said a squeaky voice with an even stranger accent. _"Return to ship. Repeat; return to ship. Captain Switchblade iz in critical condition and ve are without leadership. Ve need someone to restore power and order, NOW!"_

That shook Thunder. Switchblade? Critical? He had to tell Thrust-

A bang echoed through the building and something bounced off of his armorplating. He turned to see a pink-haired native in white attire appearing out of thin air, pointing a gun at him. His universal translator ran through the data he collected to decrypt the man's words into Cybertronian.

"Well lookie here," Tango taunted. "A fellow bookworm. You know the library's closed right now, don't you?"

The Minicon chirped and bleeped at the man, confusing him. He shook his head and reloaded his gun with glowing blue bullets. His audio receptors could've been malfunctioning, but Thunder could've sworn he heard them _humming_ or something. The man fired a shot at the Minicon and he instinctively rolled out the side. Lightning coursed through its cirectry and it the damn thing exploded. When the infiltrator returned his attention to the organic, he was gone.

Something kicked him while he was on his knee. He toppled over onto his missile launcher and the human decloaked himself. He hopping on one foot, cradling the other in his hands. He was cursing under his breath as the Minicon rose back onto his feet. He used the opportunity to swing his metallic fist at the man. The fool fell onto his own back before the servo met his face, though, and he rolled away to avoid the Con's foot as he stomped into the ground.

The man holstered his pistol and drew out two daggers from his sleeves. They were crackling with the same energy as his bullets, glowing like the fractured moon above. He dashed towards the grey mech and evaded every one of his swings. He'd duck and weave around his foe's fists and slash away at the Con, draining his Overshields in a matter of seconds. When he did manage to land a cut on the Minicon's arm, he screeched in pain (or whitenoise. One of the two) and clasped at the wound with his other hand. That didn't feel like an electrical burn. No, that felt like something else. Something he had never felt before.

What happened next wasn't what the Specialist expected. He changed into what appeared to be a miniature missile truck and began unloading all of his missiles. The whole room suddenly went up in flames and the man had to run out of there to avoid being blown to bits. The robot rolled out like a Ravager outta hell and zoomed down the halls. The drones- Knights their computers' files called them- opened fire on the Minicon, but a missle sent them to the scrapheap. He was almost at the exit when the ground burst under his wheels.

The bot converted to bipedal form and saw some creatures slither out of the floor. They resembled centipedes, with bone-like armor plating and ebony bodies. Red markings dotted their coat, each segment of their body possessing a pair of insectoid legs. He could make out several claws in their mouths as they stared down at him. One lunged at him and buried its mandibles into his shoulder. He screamed and battered the thing's skull with his free hand, but it wouldn't budge. It tore the whole arm right off of his torso, shoulder included.

Thunder ran out the doorway and fell to the ground, trying to keep the Energon from pouring out. As he lay there leaking, the bugs surrounded him, ready to dig their fangs into him too. A stream of gunfire dashed away their dreams however. Thunder looked back to see Swindle, sporting a new altmode.

"You're welcome," Said the Combaticon as he transformed and knelt down. He grabbed the Minicon and planted him on his shoulder, carrying him back into the battlefield. fThrust was burning away at some of the native monsters with his flamethrowers when the two approached him. He politely gestured them with one of his arms for them to wait before finishing the beasts off. When he turned back to them, his optics immediately fell upon the Minicon's injury.

He grabbed the little bot from Swindle's shoulder and used one of his flamethrowers to cauterize the wound. Once it was closed up, he retracted his battlemask and smiled at Thunder.

"I take that explosion from over yonder was your doing?" The Air Marshall inquired.

The Minicon nodded, chirping about his discoveries to him. Thrust's face took on a concerned look when he revealed Switchblade's fate. The Seeker imminently shifted to his new Alt-mode and planted the infiltrator in the cockpit.

"Fallback!" Thrust ordered to the surviving troops. "Fallback and regroup at the _Leviathan_!"

"The _Leviathan_?" Swindle shouted over the smoke and gunfire. "You've found it?"

"Yes… and we're heading to it right now."

The Combaticon turned to some Vechicons, still firing at humanoids and Grimm alike. "You heard the man," He shouted. "Transform and rise, baby!"

He and the grounded units converted to their wheels forms and fired at the wall before them. A hefty chunk of concrete gave way and they rolled on through the debris. The Seekers and other winged bots simply flew over it. Tango exited the communications center in time to see the Decpeticons leaving the party already. He couldn't blame them, considering who was crashing it right now. He turned to see sabercat-like Grimm mauling some of the soldiers and drones, sphinxes flying off with hostages to Brothers-know-where. This chaos and anarchy is only gonna bring in more of them, he realized.

A coughing sound caught his attention. He turned around a corner to see Reads, clasping a bleeding wound over the left side of his abdomen. Some blood was dripping from his broken nose and soaked into his hair. He lifted his head to see his favorite spy as the younger man knelt down before him. He lifted his arm up and sprayed some biofoam into the opening, closing it shut.

"Thanks," He said as Tango helped him onto his feet.

He attempted to walk, but he ended up falling onto his knee. The younger man offered to help again, but his hand was shoved away. The sargent's eyes were glued at the battle raging around them. More and more of their station was torn down by the Grimm, their soldiers ripped to pieces. He slammed a fist into the ground with an angry cry. Tango knelt down and placed an assuring hand on the elder's shoulder. This time he accepted it.

"We have to evacuate," he growled. "Abandon ship."

"But to where?" Tango asked. "We're not exactly in Vale you know."

"To the closest refueling station," The sergeant replied. "To Parchment. Get as many of the wounded on wheels as possible and cover them."

Tango nodded, putting the man's arm around his shoulders and lifting him back up. "Including you," The Huntsman insisted.

The army man looked like he was gonna argue against this, but all he could muster was a pained growl. The pair walked to one of the surviving jeeps and slipped into it. Tango took the wheel while the sergeant sat in the passenger's seat. He grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed a couple of buttons, drawing out the vehicle's speakers.

"Attention all personnel," His voice boomed. "We are incitating Exigent Exodus. Repeat, Exigent Exodus is now in effect. Everyone is to gather around the head of base and proceed to refueling station Parchment. Repeat, everyone is to proceed to Parchment."

He could hear the roars of several engines in the chaos. One by one some wheeled vehicle or another would form up behind him or by his sides. There were also some flyers, keeping a low altitude above him. They were already opening fire on the Grimm as they abandoned ship, though not everyone made it out. One or two aircraft were knocked out of the sky while a Boarbatusk rolled into a jeep.

He turned his gaze to his former base. Already the Creatures were tearing it down, leaving nothing to stand. They grinded everything to dust, left nothing behind. Not even rubble.

"They're probably follow us back to Parchment," Tango noted as he drove through the snow.

"I know," the elderly man confessed. "But we'll be prepared when they come."

 _But will it be enough?_ The Spec-Op thought to himself.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Yeah… this chapter is real late. Personal life and writer's block are the main culprits for this crime. Now that Volume 7 is running, though, I should have some fresh drive and inspiration. Like the last chapter, some content was pushed back from this one to keep it from getting bloated. I can promise you that we'll be going back to Anima in that one.**

 **Thunder is really** _ **Armada**_ **Inferno. I went with his Japanese name rather than his English one because there's already a dude in** _ **Aligned**_ **with that name (or at least is implied to be in this Continuity).**

 **Demolisher is just his WFC incarnation (though I have considered having him as a former Constructicon like his movieline counterpart, considering that it was a class in the pre-war caste system. Right now that detail isn't relevant to the present.).**

 **Incinerator is a direct port from the 2007 movie's toyline.**

 **And now the organics of the story so far. The first OC from the Team to be revealed is Noelani Marinus, a hotheaded hack-and-slasher. I wasn't too sure that her weapon and fighting style would fit into RWBY all that well, but then I remembered Penny and how OP she was in Volume 1 (essentially how she herself was gonna have a jetpack).**

 **Tango is basically like James Bond or the Spy from** _ **Team Fortress 2**_ **. Better suited for stealthy missions rather than allout brawls. I honestly considered having him and Read die during the Grimm attack on Alizarin, covering the wounded and making a last stand and whatnot. I changed mind and decided to have them survive (though whether or not they'll be so lucky next chapter remains to be seen).**

 **And now the Canon Goliath in the room… Glynda. I did say that I wanted to avoid involving Canon folk as much as possible, but that rule is generally applied to RWBY and crew. Glynda was hardly used after Volume 3, and her connections with Ozpin made her a logical choice for the Bots at Vale.**

 **No previews for the next chapter for the same reasons as the last one. Hopefully all that I wanted to do in it will be wrapped up next time.**


End file.
